The Summer of Broken Things

By Margaret Peterson Haddix

Two estranged friends uncover a life-altering family secret in Spain.

3.5/5 Goodreads · 3,220 ratings

393 pages

$17.99Save 6%

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Bookroo's summary

Avery, privileged and popular, and Kayla, an outcast, are unexpectedly reunited on a trip to Spain. As they navigate their strained past, they stumble upon a shocking family secret. Can they bridge their differences to confront the truth, or will betrayal tear them further apart? In a foreign land, the girls must decide what family truly means when everything they believed is challenged.

From the publisher

From New York Times bestselling author Margaret Peterson Haddix comes a haunting novel about friendship and what it really means to be a family in the face of lies and betrayal. Fourteen-year-old Avery Armisted is athletic, rich, and pretty. Sixteen-year-old Kayla Butts is known as “butt-girl” at school. The two girls were friends as little kids, but that’s ancient history now. So it’s a huge surprise when Avery’s father offers to bring Kayla along on a summer trip to Spain. Avery is horrified that her father thinks he can choose her friends–and make her miss soccer camp. Kayla struggles just to imagine leaving the confines of her small town. But in Spain, the two uncover a secret their families had hidden from both of them their entire lives. Maybe the girls can put aside their differences and work through it together. Or maybe the lies and betrayal will only push them–and their families–farther apart. Margaret Peterson Haddix weaves together two completely separate lives in this engaging novel that explores what it really means to be a family–and what to do when it’s all falling apart.

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