The Summer of Bad Ideas

Gr 4–6—Edith, her academic parents, and her eight-year old twin siblings (both already members of Mensa) together return to rural Pinne, FL, to prepare Edith's recently deceased grandmother Petunia's house for sale. In the Florida swamp, surrounded by her grandmother's pet snakes and lizards, Edith meets her cousin Rae for the first time. Rae is everything Edith wishes she could be: brave, glamorous, and popular—with a viral Instagram feed and a long-distance boyfriend she met while doing a Shakespeare play. When Edith discovers her grandmother's long-lost list from childhood, "Petunia's Good Ideas for Summertime," she sets out to create "Edie," a new version of herself. These adventurous challenges, though seemingly "bad ideas" at first glance, once actualized allow Edith to find out who she is and what she values in ways that are both comforting and somewhat unexpected. Stewart's whimsical contemporary coming-of-age story is full of sweetness and moments of sheer chutzpah.