Summer Nights and Meteorites

I’ve long believed that succeeding as a woman in STEM is more about perseverance than anything else. Sure there are some super geniuses, but even for us regular folks – a career in physics, chemistry, or math should not feel unattainable. It’s just a thing to do, like any other career, except with all the pressure of breaking into a boys club. Which is why I loved the protagonist of Hannah Reynolds’s YA romance Summer Nights and Meteorites. Jordan is more into math than history, wears a lot of black, and is incredibly approachable. 

She’s also a complete mess when it comes to relationships, afraid her father has used her as an excuse not to date ever since her mother died, and is insanely jealous of her Dad’s research assistant Ethan with whom he’s been spending most of his time. Which is why she’s sworn off dating and is preparing to spend a resentful summer marooned on Nantucket where her father is based for his historical research. Unfortunately, she’s staying at Ethan’s family home (they’re Uber rich) and may have accidentally made out with him on the boat ride over before realizing who he was. Whoops

Did I mention she’s kind of a mess? But she’s a functional mess, and obtains a last minute internship with an incredibly cool astrophysicist. As part of that gig she starts looking into Nantucket’s history of female astronomers. 

Naturally, the sparks fly between Jordan and an Ethan. Readers of Hannah’s other books, Summer of Lost Letters and Eight Nights of Flirting, will find some cameos from former featured characters but everything is understandable without having read those prior books. There is also an element of found media when Jordan reads the journals of a former Nantucket astronomer and makes a shocking discovery. Interestingly, for a book in the romance section, the third act tension does not come from a break up – it comes from several side plots the biggest of which is the drama in the diaries. I won’t give it away, but in my experience Jordan’s dad vastly underestimates the ability of private foundation grant committees to hold a grudge. 

Jordan, and her boss Cora, are extremely relatable. They are regular people with regular lives who show readers that science should be attainable for anyone. Jordan wandered her way into astrophysics yet she might stay there and build a career. Both the female astronomers of Nantucket’s past and Cora are shown to face discrimination against women (and in Cora’s case women of color) in the sciences. But they set about fixing those wrongs and having laudable careers regardless. 

Science shouldn’t be a remote career path designated for Mensa members only. It’s there for anyone who wants to reach out and take it. The major requirements are an actual interest in the subject and a willingness to fail (because every scientist fails at some point). I loved watching Jordan realize that this is more than okay and that she can have both love and a career. Score one for team science. 

BookishlyJewish received an e-arc from the publisher after we requested one.

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