We'll Always Have Summer

We can tell a lot about a person by the company she keeps. In We’ll Always Have Summer, we’re introduced to Belly’s friendship with Anika, in addition to her ongoing friendship with Taylor. How are the friendships similar? How are they different? What roles do Taylor and Anika play, respectively, in Belly’s life, at the time when the novel takes place?

When Belly tells Anika about Jeremiah’s infidelity, Anika replies, “Keeping a secret like that from the person you love is probably the worst part.” We learn of several secrets in We’ll Always Have Summer—Jeremiah’s, Belly’s, Conrad’s. How much of what happens in this third novel is influenced by secrets? Is it ever okay to keep secrets? Is it ever okay to keep secrets from the people you love, in particular?

We’ll Always Have Summer is the most nostalgic of the three books in Jenny Han’s series. The title evokes the warmth and comforting permanence of memories. Belly is particularly touched by her memories of growing up at Cousins Beach, especially as represented by the images she recalls of Jeremiah and Conrad. Discuss Belly’s reaction to her realization that she’s had the story of Rosie, the dog, all wrong in her memory: “What else had I remembered wrong? I was a person who loved to play Remember When in my head. I’d always prided myself on how I remembered every detail. It scared me to think that my memories could be just ever-so-slightly wrong.” How much of Belly’s love for Jeremiah and Conrad is based on memories? How much weight can we assign to memories, as a foundation for current relationships? What kind of value does Belly put on her memories?

Belly’s conflicting feelings for Jeremiah and Conrad come to a head in We’ll Always Have Summer. As Belly grapples with determining how she’s feeling, she’s simultaneously struggling to control her feelings. Is it even possible for people to control love? Discuss what the following quote means to you, and the extent to which you agree that feelings can be safely tucked away: “I’d thought my feelings for Conrad were safely tucked away, like my old Rollerblades and the little gold watch my dad bought me when I first learned how to tell time.”

Describe your first love. How has this first experience shaped who you are today? Discuss the significance of first love, versus “last” love, as movingly articulated by Belly: “Maybe that was how it was with all first loves. They own a little piece of your heart, always. Conrad at twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, even seventeen years old. For the rest of my life, I would think of him fondly, the way you do your first pet, the first car you drove. Firsts were important. But I was pretty sure lasts were even more important. And Jeremiah, he was going to be my last and my every and my always.”

Taylor insists, “You should have everything you want, Belly . . . You only get married once.” Describe your ideal wedding. What would you prefer to have, but could do without, when push comes to shove? What features of your dream wedding are “deal breakers”—what do you consider absolutely imperative?

One of the hardest parts about going away to college—or moving, or simply starting a new school, for that matter—is making friends. Belly is tremendously relieved to be invited to her hallmate’s room to hang out with the girls. She confides, “maybe these were my people.” Who are your people? What qualities do you look for in new friends? What advice would you have shared with Belly for making friends that first semester of college?

Belly’s feelings for Conrad are profoundly conflicted throughout the three books in Jenny Han’s series. In regards to whether or not Conrad would attend Belly and Jeremiah’s wedding, Belly admits, “I think I was afraid. Afraid that he was coming and afraid that he wasn’t.” What does she mean by this?

Finally, after hearing Belly’s point of view, and then Jeremiah’s beginning, in It’s Not Summer Without You we have a window inside Conrad’s mind. How did your impression of Conrad change at this point? Why do think Jenny Han chose not to feature Conrad’s point of view until now? Why show shifting points of view (besides Belly’s) in the first place—what effect does this have on how you interpret the story?

We see Belly’s relationship with her mother evolve throughout the three books in the series. In We’ll Always Have Summer, we’re privy to a compelling power dynamic between mother and daughter that hasn’t been as evident in the past. What is this power dynamic, and to what do you attribute it? How would you characterize the nature of Belly and Laurel’s relationship? Consider the following examples: “And she was bluffing. She had to be bluffing. No matter how upset or disappointed she was in me, I couldn’t believe that she would miss her only daughter’s wedding. I just couldn’t.” “Alone in my car again, I cried loud, ragged sobs. I cried until my throat hurt. I was mad at my mom, but bigger than that was this overwhelming, heavy sadness. I was grown up to do things on my own, without her. I could get married, I could quit my job. I was a big girl now. I didn’t have to ask for permission. My mother was no longer all powerful. Part of me wished she could be.”

How important is it to you that your family accepts your significant other and the choices you make with him/her? Furthermore, how important is it for you to have your friends’ blessings?

Although she attempts to convince herself otherwise, Belly is wrought with guilt following her subtle yet dramatic encounters with Conrad: first with the peaches and then when she nurses his surfing wound. Is Belly’s guilt justified? Why do you think these moments carry such significance for Belly?

Conrad asks his former employer and dear friend, Ernie, “Do you really believe in that? That people are meant to be with one person?” How would you answer this question? Do you believe in soul mates, or is it possible to love more than one person over your lifetime? Is it possible to love more than one person at the same time? Belly considers this possibility, when she realizes that she has feelings of love for both Jeremiah and Conrad. How would you explain this?

Jenny Han gives us plenty of opportunities to compare and contrast Jeremiah and Conrad—who they are as individuals, as well as who they are as they relate to Belly. Belly is constantly evaluating the two brothers. A few times in We’ll Always Have Summer, she even confuses the two—like when she realizes that it was Conrad who found the dog, Rosie, and not Jeremiah. A similar mix-up occurs at the very end of the book, when Jeremiah opens his letter from Susannah, only to realize that the letter inside was really for Conrad: “My mom must have mixed up the envelopes. In the letter she said she only got to see him in love once. That was with you.” Can you think of other similar mix-ups? What do we learn from these mix-ups?

Explain the title of this third book in the series, We’ll Always Have Summer. What does this mean, to you? Who is the “we” referenced? How would you define “summer,” in this context?

Finally, after three wonderfully suspenseful and poignant novels, we learn which brother Belly ends up with. Do you think Belly made the right choice? Were you surprised by her choice? Are you satisfied with this ending to the series?