Summer Skin

Summer Skin

Available in paperback and ebook from all good booksellers

Published in Australia/NZ by Allen & Unwin

Published in US/Can by Feiwel and Friends, US Macmillan

Description

 A searingly honest and achingly funny story about love, sex and navigating life on campus.

Jess Gordon is out for revenge. Last year the jocks from Knights College tried to shame her best friend. This year she and a hand-picked college girl gang are going to get even.

The lesson: don’t mess with Unity girls. The target: Blondie, a typical Knights stud, arrogant, cold…and smart enough to keep up with Jess.

It’s all Girl meets Boy, Girl steals from Boy, seduces Boy, ties Boy to a chair and burns Boy’s stuff. Just your typical love story.

‘Kirsty Eagar’s marvellous cast of characters are as flawed as they are endearing, and it is impossible to get to the end without wishing they were your friends. Steamy, sexy and gorgeously written, Summer Skin is a book that all older teens should read for its frank discussion of sex, feminism, relationships and growing up.’

Australian Bookseller and Publisher

Reviews

Jess and Mitch don’t just meet, they clash. Disdain turns into curiosity, which quickly morphs into desire, and that is when things get both messy and, from a reader’s perspective, utterly compelling … Eagar writes about lust in an effortlessly candid way and always with the female gaze in mind.
The Age
Taking a keen look at modern day intimacy in a hook-up culture, Summer Skin expertly shatters notions of slut shaming and the pull of sexual desire. Realistic, modern and moving, the story of Jess and Mitch is as smart as it is hot. Kirsty Eagar has written the feminist love story that girls have been waiting for.
Clementine FordFight Like a Girl
Kirsty Eagar’s marvellous cast of characters are as flawed as they are endearing, and it is impossible to get to the end without wishing they were your friends. Steamy, sexy and gorgeously written, Summer Skin is a book that all older teens should read for its frank discussion of sex, feminism, relationships and growing up.
Australian Bookseller and Publisher
Summer Skin is more than a well written romance; it’s a great read that might encourage the kinds of discussions that should be had around raunch culture, gender assumptions and the chaotic, confusing, and timeless struggle between the heart and the head.
Sydney Morning Herald
It shows us—and when I say ‘us’ I mean ‘men’— what the worst of our behaviour looks like and why it’s not acceptable … It’s mind-blowing. I haven’t read anything like it.
Andrew PopleFinal Draft, 2SER
This novel requires a warning label on the cover, but not for reasons you might expect – it’s the YA novel this generation needs and people will talk about it. I loved it.
Vikki WakefieldAuthor of This Is How It Ends
It was compulsive reading—funny, romantic, thought-provoking— Jess and her friends are like fabulous, confident conquistadors exploring the joys, confusions and expectations of love and sex. Summer Skin shines.
Simmone HowellAuthor of Girl Defective
Kirsty Eagar writes with searing insight into a grey area, giving it brilliant colour… Summer Skin is messy, confronting and highly relatable.
Emily GaleAuthor of Steal my Sunshine
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Interviews and guest posts

The Unfinished Bookshelf

Beachside Bookshop

The Kids’ Book Review

Summerlandish.com

The Kids’ Bookshop

Podcasts

2SER Final Draft

Booktopia (with Justine Larbalestier, author of My Sister Rosa)

The Co-op Bookstore

ABC Local with Rhianna Patrick

Bookish Friends

 

I wrote it because the act of sex is different to the act of ticking off a checklist compiled from porn. I wrote it because girls and women feel desire, and have a right to pleasure, too. I wrote it because sometimes it’s hard to say no to things you don’t want to do, and it can be equally hard to voice what makes you feel good.

From the Author