Sarah Everett's The Continuation of Summer Dillon is an endearing and thought-provoking middle-grade science fiction novel about a Black tween's exploration of what it means to be human.
Following 12-year-old Summer Dillon's death from a chronic illness, her grieving family activates Summer 2.0, an android created to continue Summer's life. Summer 2.0 initially believes her role is to seamlessly pick up where the original Summer left off. "I have all Summer's mannerisms and memories and physical features.... I know the details of her life in the same way she does. Sure, androids can make the occasional error, but in all the ways that matter, I am Summer." However, as Summer 2.0 attempts to fulfill her assumed purpose and meet the expectations of her grieving family and friends, she begins to have emotions and thoughts that are uniquely her own. This growing self-awareness leads Summer 2.0--and those around her--to question whether she's meant to be a replacement or to instead forge her own identity.
The Continuation of Summer Dillon is outstanding and thoughtful. Everett (The Shape of Lost Things) skillfully examines themes of grief, identity, family, and humanity in this captivating and evocative work. Although the novel asks challenging ethical questions about artificial intelligence, Everett's use of short, well-paced chapters makes it approachable to a variety of readers. The Continuation of Summer Dillon is an excellent read-alike for those who enjoyed Peter Brown's The Last Robot. --Natasha Harris, freelance reviewer