Stars, Stripes, & Summer Nights

Author: Celeste Dador
Genre: Teen Fiction
Publisher: Random House Children's Publishing, 2026
Pages: 320
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Abigail Cary-Alzona, eldest daughter of President Constance Alzona, just wanted one normal night as a teenager. But after an impulsive pizza order later makes her front-page news, Abby is officially exiled to a Wi-Fi-free country inn for the summer, along with her little sister, Elle.

The inn belongs to Gabriel Calabrese's family. Gabriel is sarcastic, camera-obsessed, and definitely not dazzled by presidential perks (also, kind of the reason for the whole pizza fiasco). But Abby's determined to make the most of her time away from the White House - with a summer bucket list full of things real teens get to do. Pool parties. Picnics. Maybe even a first kiss.

As she and Elle dive into small-town life, Abby starts to see what makes Gabriel tick. An maybe, just maybe, she's falling for him. . .

Review: We have the Goodreads, It's Literally Summer Challenge, to thank for this one. This prompt includes books with the word Summer in the title, and there's a long list from which to choose. I was scrolling in the challenge, taking note of different books. When I took my son to the library that same day, Stars, Stripes, & Summer Nights was on a Teen Display we passed on our way to his favorite section. I took it as a sign.

This was cute. Obviously it's a summer romance book written for teens, and it's exactly what you'd expect it to be. A fun little read to get away from the heavier themes I've been reading lately.