Point of View

Bad Summer People employs a third-person narrator. The narrator tells the story from the focus of a variety of different characters including Susan, Sam, Lauren, Jen, Lauren, Robert, Rachel, Micah, Silvia, and Larry. Each chapter is generally dedicated to focusing on one individual character. This focus on multiple different characters allows Rosenblum to tell the story from multiple points of view. For instance, several different characters give their impressions of Sam’s behavior during the bay picnic. Lisa, for instance, thinks that Sam and Jason are both big babies and not real men. Jason fears that Sam is acting as he is because he has learned that he and Jen are having an affair. Robert simply accepts what is happening as proof that the people of Salcombe are crazy.

Language and Meaning

Even though this novel is told with a focus on a variety of...