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Jenny Han is blossoming into rom-com royalty. Pushing the genre forward from every angle—books, films, and now, a TV series—the author has made the case that she deserves a spot on the pedestal with all-timers like Nora Ephron and Nancy Meyers. If not for the romances, then at least for her pristine kitchens, which could easily serve Diane Keaton or Meg Ryan.
Han’s new TV series, an adaptation of her novel The Summer I Turned Pretty, cements her as the queen of crushes. A bit quieter than To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, the last cinematic take on her work, the Prime Video series is packed with beachy vibes thanks to endless sundresses, hunky boys shredding their shirts, and the crash of waves echoing over all seven episodes. If you love summer, rom-coms, and Taylor Swift, you’ll adore The Summer I Turned Pretty.
Though the boys are perhaps not as alluring as Noah Centineo once was in To All the Boys, Isabelle (Lola Tung)—aka Belly, the cutest nickname that ever was—has the strongest feelings of all time for her crush. Belly will see your scribbling names in hearts and raise constant daydreams for years on end. Belly is in love with her family friend Conrad (Christopher Briney), who tags along on her annual visit to Cousins Beach. But his little brother Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) happens to pine for Belly—love triangle time!
The Summer I Turned Pretty is special to me, and I imagine for other young girls who read it before their first kiss, their first love, or before they could really understand what flirting was too. Basically: The book shaped our entire understanding of relationships, even if the story was soapy and hopelessly romantic. We’ve been wishing for over a decade to see the book end up on screen—since 2009, when iPod Touches allowed us to soundtrack our (entirely unromantic) lives.
In honor of a TV series finally coming to fruition, Jenny Han, the master behind affairs of the heart and the show, sat down to unpack her sweet coming-of-age tale.
How did you translate this story, which was originally written over a decade ago, into a 2022 groove?