Can’t Wait Wednesday – SUMMER BIRD BLUE by Akemi Dawn Bowman
“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about. It is a meme that I have loved participating in for over a year now, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll just be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.
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My selection for this week is SUMMER BIRD BLUE by Akemi Dawn Bowman. Bowman’s Starfish was one of the loveliest books I read last year so I’m very excited to see that she has a new book coming out in September and that it sounds just as moving as Starfish, if not more so. I’m always drawn to books that deal with grief, and there’s just something about these “boys” (especially the 80 year old boy, lol) who are helping the main character work through her grief that really intrigues me. I’m envisioning this book as equal parts heartbreaking and heartwarming and can’t wait to see if I’m correct.
SUMMER BIRD BLUE by Akemi Dawn Bowman
Publication Date: September 11, 2018
From Goodreads:
Rumi Seto spends a lot of time worrying she doesn’t have the answers to everything. What to eat, where to go, whom to love. But there is one thing she is absolutely sure of—she wants to spend the rest of her life writing music with her younger sister, Lea.
Then Lea dies in a car accident, and her mother sends her away to live with her aunt in Hawaii while she deals with her own grief. Now thousands of miles from home, Rumi struggles to navigate the loss of her sister, being abandoned by her mother, and the absence of music in her life. With the help of the “boys next door”—a teenage surfer named Kai, who smiles too much and doesn’t take anything seriously, and an eighty-year-old named George Watanabe, who succumbed to his own grief years ago—Rumi attempts to find her way back to her music, to write the song she and Lea never had the chance to finish.
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I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your CWW selection for this week. 🙂
I have Starfish to read but will definitely be adding this one too! Great pick!
I hope you enjoy them both!
This sounds incredibly moving, Suzanne! Wonderful pick — and such a lovely cover!
Thanks!
this one is new to me. sounds really good. I always have a soft spot for grief books. I am not sure why, they make me feel way to much, but I do love them.
Yeah, they really get to me as well.
Oh boy, I can definitely see this one being heartbreaking – but heartwarming too, like you said. I hope it’s another good read for you from this author!
-Lauren
Thanks, I hope so too!
This sounds so charming! I haven’t come across many stories set in Hawaii. Thanks for sharing!😁
You’re welcome 🙂
I heard that this book is heartbreaking and now I understand why! Great pick!
My WOW:https://booksofteacups.wordpress.com/2018/07/25/waiting-on-wednesday-stange-grace-by-tessa-gratton/
Thanks!
I haven’t participated in this meme specifically but each month I post about books coming out the following month by women, non-binary writers, and other writers of historically marginalized populations; there are so many books on these lists that I want to read! Bowman’s books sound interesting. While it’s not coming for a few months yet, I can’t wait for Becoming by Michelle Obama!
OMG, yes. I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy of Becoming. She’s so eloquent that I just know it’s going to be a wonderful read.
I agree, this sounds like it will cause a lot of tears, but I’m hopeful about “the boys” helping Rumi out!
Same here!
ASDFGHJKL I STILL NEED TO READ STARFISH!!!! I’m so happy to hear you loved it!
Ooh, I really hope you love Starfish!
My pile of books is so big that I can’t afford to add new ones…but I do! My whole family is looking forward to the 3rd Nameless City book — The Divided Earth. It comes out sooooooon!
Same here. I have no self control when it comes to books, lol.
Do I have to pick just one? LOL- I have never heard of this book before, I will definitely have to check it out. Well known wise, I am looking forward to Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J Maas coming out in October. November holds the next screenplay of Fantastic Beasts, and in December, one of my favorite indie authors is finishing up her second trilogy (The Ashen Touch Trilogy) with a GORGEOUS cover “The Obsidian Shard”.
Oh gosh, I still need to start the Throne of Glass series. I really need to do that this year.
What a fabulous cover… and you’re right – this one sounds like it’s going to be a heartbreaker… But there does also seem to be the possiblity of some uplifting light at the end of the tunnel, too:)). I hope you really love this one, Suzanne.
Yes, I see myself crying tears of sadness followed by tears of happiness when I read this one. We’ll see if I’m right, lol.
Great pick. I have to add this one to my TRB.
Mary my CWW!
Thanks!
This one sounds like it has potential but it also sounds really sad. I’m looking forward to Sea Witch, which is coming out at the end of July I think. So soon!
Oh yes, I can’t wait to read Sea Witch either. I keep hearing such great things about it!
I’m not up for books that deal with grief anytime soon, but this one does sound like such a moving read.
How sad that the mother is so immersed in her own grief that she can’t be there when her daughter needs her most. 🙁
I agree. I guess it really does happen sometimes but it’s awful to think about.
This book looks like it’s going to absolutely rip your heart out of your chest and then stitch it back together and I’m all for it. Another great one to add to my TBR list that’s already over-flowing with “wishful reads”. lol. Beautiful blog, I’m definitely following.
Right? I fully expect to practically cry my way through this book, lol.
I can’t wait to have my emotions wrecked by this one.
Haha, right?!
This does sound good, and I like the sound of the Hawaii setting as well. And I remember seeing Starfish around- it did look good.
Yes, the setting is a big draw for me on this one too 🙂
What a beautiful cover!!! It is going to be emotional for sure!
Right? I agree!
I need to go look up Starfish. I am an ugly crier, and have a soft heart so I tend to avoid these types of emotional reads. However I must admit I am curious.
It’s a good one. I’m the same way so I try to save them for when I’m home alone so I can ugly cry in peace, lol.
I have Starfish on my kindle & I already know I’m going to love it! Summer Bird Blue is one of my highly anticipated releases <3
I hope you enjoy both books. I thought Starfish was beautiful and it’s actually still one of my favorite books covers.
There is just something about books dealing with grief that draw us to them, isn’t there? This sounds really good. I haven’t read the author before, but I will definitely be checking this out. Thanks for bringing it to my attention, Suzanne.
There really is. I guess it’s just one of those universal experiences. We’ve all lost someone or think about the day when we will lose someone.
This sounds like an emotional one, enjoy it when you read it. Happy weekend 🙂
Thanks!