I am Laura Lee Anderson, a Young Adult author and freelance fiction editor from Pittsburgh, PA.
My debut novel, Song of Summer, was published by Bloomsbury Spark in 2015.
I am Laura Lee Anderson, a Young Adult author and freelance fiction editor from Pittsburgh, PA.
My debut novel, Song of Summer, was published by Bloomsbury Spark in 2015.
Laura Lee Anderson 
Hi Laura
I am your 2nd cousin. I grew up with your Dad and your Uncles and Aunt in New York. I’m sure you have heard your Dad talk about Uncle Kenny and family. I saw Dwight’s post about your so I ordered it on Amazon and just finished it. I was taken back so many years. I went to school at Chautauqua, sang and played at all the County Festivals, went to so many concerts at the Amphitheater and worked my way through college working at the Chautauqua Diner right outside the gates!..Thank you for taking me home!
I’m so glad you liked the book! I see it as a love letter to Westfield/Chautauqua, so I’m glad it took you back. It was such a pleasure to write. I hope to write again soon!
Your book was amazing, the characters were really well defined. It was obvious that you had done a lot of research into it. But the ending was left open, are you publishing a sequel? I would it keen to read more Robin and Carter
Thank you so much! I’m glad you liked it! A sequel is always a possibility. 🙂
I agree with aru! that ending almost broke my heart. I need some finality and I need a happily ever after. Please write a sequel and I promise I will spend all of my free time making everyone I meet read your book!
Thank you so much for reading the book! I love that you loved it so much. I would like for there to be a sequel too, so we’ll see if that ends up happening. 🙂
Absolutely loved your novel but the ending left me utterly heart broken please tell me you will consider writing a sequel!
Thank you so much! I am in the throes of motherhood right now, but Carter and Robin’s story is never far from my mind!
I loved this book so much that the ending almost broke my heart! I hope you decide to write a sequel soon! You are an amazing author.
Thank you! That means so much to me! I would love to write a sequel someday- maybe when my kids are bigger!
Absolutely loved this book and read it in one sitting! Like everyone else, I’m definitely hoping for a sequel!! I love how much this novel explores into the deaf community and their language and nuances. Did you have to do extensive research or do you have any personal experience?
Thank you so much. I did have to do extensive research! The original idea for the novel was sparked by a Deaf woman who came to my coffee shop regularly and wrote her order on a notepad. Little did I know she would become one of my sensitivity readers later down the road! When I was editing the book, I took ASL classes at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, and really loved being immersed in the culture. It was such a welcoming place full of such PATIENT teachers! I was so honored last year when they asked me to come visit with their senior class, who was reading Song of Summer in their English class. Sequel and spin-off ideas pop in my head all the time! I’m excited for when I have time to devote to novels again.
Your book brought me on an emotional journey as I read it. I am the mother of a beautiful16 year old daugther whom is profoundly deaf. She is growing up bi-lingual and bi-cultural much like Carter. She also lives in a home where like Robin music is loved and intergrated into our every days lives. We explored ways for her to enjoy music like the rest of our family members.
I think you did a bang up job of exporing the complexities of teens with language and cultural differences dating. I especially liked how it showed that Carter and Robin’s relationship was work for both of them to fit into each other’s worlds. That they both got to see the world through each others eyes. I like how it is written in journal form from both genders points of view. You get a real sense of the vulnerablilty of both males and females in the beginning of a new relationship.
I read this book because I teach ASL and deaf studies at my local high school. I am previewing books to purchase to have available in my classroom for novel studies next year. A couple points from an educators point of view. The language and steamy scenes are on the edge whether I can reccomend as a classroom read. Talking to some of my collegues I could have this book as an offering in my room with a warning label on it. I hope you write a sequel and you keep the language minimized and the content G rated.
I’m routing for Carter and Robin that they can develop the maturity to put each others needs first and make it through the challenges needed to grow a sustainable long term relationship.