Summer Nights and Meteorites by Hannah Reynolds; New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons (c) 2024; ISBN 9780593-617328; 340 pages, $19.99
SAN DIEGO — This is a summer romance story for Young Adults about two Jewish teens in Nantucket — the boy a townie, the girl visiting for the summer. Ethan works as an apprentice for Jordan’s father, Tony, a widower who is a historian focused on underwater cable operations. Jordan worries that Ethan, to whom she is physically attracted, has replaced her in her father’s affections.
There are passing mentions of b’nai mitzvah, Shabbat, and studying Hebrew but these are not essential to the plot, and I wonder sometimes whether such Jewish content is there simply to be placed on Jewish reading lists. You won’t learn anything about Judaism or Jewish culture, but interesting information abounds about space and the sea.
Jordan takes a job as an intern with an astrophysicist and in addition to her regular duties begins to research the life of a 19th century female astronomer who lived in Nantucket but whose work and contributions went unrecognized by a patriarchal society. So while Ethan learns about the sea, she learns about space. They find their fields of study in many ways to be similar.
Ethan Barbanel is the son of a very wealthy family that owns a mansion overlooking a long stretch of the island’s beach. The house is so big that–hotel like–it can accommodate many guests at a time. Tony has arranged for Jordan to stay with the Barbanels because his own studio apartment is too small for them both. This throws Jordan and Ethan together.
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Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via sdheritage@cox.net