Summer lives in our memories as a dreamy, sun-kissed, ethereal time. Reality may be just like that: long days in nailing heat, velvety black nights, an expanse of time to hang out and just be. Or the season may be fraught with some kind of worry hanging overhead like a thundercloud waiting to burst; summer may be the time, finally, for coming of age.

These nine writers tell tales of getting lost and finding the way again; of a near-death experience that feels like a glimpse of paradise; of a mother’s anxiety about her son’s growing up; of learning to be silent; of the unexpected attachment of a houseguest; of the stillness of dawn on the lake and the last chance to be a child; of the comforting ritual of baking in good times and in sad; of summer with the children and a modern dilemma: to schedule or to slack?. This selection of essays will give you a taste of some eternal truths: something sweet, something salty, something slightly bitter and somewhat profound.

Bubble Fairies | by Laralynn Weiss Rapoza

Tennis Camp | by Toni Martin

Your Epidermis Is Showing | by Veronica Chater

I Was a Teenage Angler | by Jill Koenigsdorf

The House Guest | by Laura Shumaker

The Last Summer | by J.H.B. Chambers

Aunt Edith’s Lemon Meringue Pie | by Linda Joy Myers

Camp Wishi | by Sarah Lavender Smith

The Summer of Love | by Christine Schoefer