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Chapter 23
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Summer I Turned Pretty, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Time and Change
Coming of Age and Selfishness
Puberty, Body Image, and Anxiety
Family, Romance, and Rules
Summary
Analysis
Conrad goes right back to treating Belly like a kid sister the next day. Cam waits a few days and then calls and invites Belly to the drive-in. Belly accepts, but she’s worried: will she have to make out? That’s what people do at the drive-in. She’s even gone before to spy on Conrad when he was on a date. But she also would feel better if she knew Jeremiah and Steven were there too, even if they were spying on her. Belly is terrified and shivering, but it turns out she didn’t need to be. Cam watches the movie intently, and he drives her home right after instead of taking her for ice cream. Belly is so disappointed he didn’t try to kiss her.
While Belly didn’t much care that Cam doesn’t always follow Belly’s unspoken rules of conduct, here, he seriously falls short. Belly isn’t even sure she wants to kiss at the drive-in, but because she expects kissing there, it’s offensive that Cam didn’t try (though Belly, for her part, didn’t express to Cam that she expected this). This highlights how Belly sets Cam up to fail by not communicating what she wants.
Themes
In her driveway, Cam reveals to Belly that he remembered her from Latin Convention because he thought she was so pretty. Belly thinks it’s a joke, but Cam seems hurt that she doesn’t believe him. Belly remembers that she was with Taylor at the convention—nobody notices her when Taylor is around. Belly says that she would’ve liked it if he’d talked to her then, and he kisses her. Belly wishes this were her first kiss.
Themes
