The Summer List

Laura and Casey were once inseparable: as they floated on their backs in the sunlit lake, as they dreamed about the future under starry skies, and as they teamed up for the wild scavenger hunts in their small California lakeside town. Until one summer night, when a shocking betrayal sent Laura running through the pines, down the dock, and into a new life, leaving Casey and a first love in her wake.

But the past is impossible to escape, and now, after seventeen years away, Laura is pulled home and into a reunion with Casey she can’t resist—one last scavenger hunt. With a twist: this time, the list of clues leads to the settings of their most cherished summer memories. From glistening Jade Cove to the vintage skating rink, each step they take becomes a bittersweet reminder of the friendship they once shared. But just as the game brings Laura and Casey back together, the clues unravel a stunning secret that threatens to tear them apart…

“This is a lovely debut by Doan, exploring themes of motherhood, daughterhood, and first love with tenderness and humor. The writing is fresh and charming, a perfect read for anyone who spent her teenage years reading the racy bits of cheap paperbacks out loud to their best friends.”
-Booklist, STARRED* review

“Doan’s characters leap off the page…[An] accomplished debut novel…Will please readers who grew up with the novels of Judy Blume.”
-Publishers Weekly

“With a vivid sense of place and characters as real as your high school besties, this debut novel is sure to please fans of Kristin Hannah and Elin Hilderbrand.”
-Library Journal

“A poignant tale of mothers and daughters finding their ways home to each other.”
-Kirkus Reviews

“Summer Reads: Coolest Books of the Season”
-Globe and Mail

“Best New Books to Put in Your Beach Bag”
-PopSugar

“Best Books of Summer 2018”
-Family Circle

“Best New Books for Summer 2018”
-Coastal Living

“A trip down memory lane becomes a hunt for long-buried secrets in Amy Mason Doan’s gripping and poignant debut. An evocative tale of family, first love, and the unique and lasting gift of a friendship formed in girlhood.”
-Meg Donohue, USA Today bestselling author

“There is not a word or a plot line out of place in The Summer List, Amy Mason Doan’s fabulous debut. These characters and their stories are going to stick with you for a long, long time.”
-Meg Mitchell Moore, author of The Admissions and The Captain’s Daughter

“An ideal summer read…a compelling blend of love, betrayal, secrets and reconciliation…”
-The Oregonian

“An amazing debut.”
-Authorlink

“Read this one on the beach with your BFF.”
-HelloGiggles

"The perfect summer read. Beautifully drawn characters creating a page-turning mystery. I stayed up way too late to find out what happened! Impossible to put down!”

-Bestselling author M. O’Keefe

“In her mesmerizing debut, Amy Mason Doan challenges everything we think we know about family and forgiveness. Readers will be swept up in this haunting story of buried secrets and lost love.”
-Lynda Cohen Loigman, author of The Two-Family House

“With its exquisite detail, The Summer List wouldn’t let me go, and the unexpected ending gave me chills…Irresistible.”
-Jennifer S. Brown, author of Modern Girls

“A tender novel about friendship lost and rekindled, and uncovering the truth of the past.”
-Polly Dugan, author of So Much a Part of You and The Sweetheart Deal

“Moving…compelling…beautifully written characters.”
-The Girly Book Club