When August Learned Our Names

Nora Vale has one rule for August: don't get attached to anything that ends with it.

A month in the seaside town of Bellmere is supposed to be temporary - just one more stop before another move, another school, another beginning she never asked for.

Then Nora discovers an old instant camera with a photograph hidden inside and a handwritten challenge on the back: before summer ends, learn five names you'll never want to forget.

Local boy Eli Mercer recognizes the beach in the photograph and convinces her to make the challenge real. Five strangers each. One portrait. One honest sentence.

As their list fills with unexpected friendships, late-night walks, photographs, and stories Nora never planned to keep, her carefully constructed rule begins to fall apart. So does the distance she meant to keep between herself and Eli.

But Eli is counting down to September too - and he hasn't told her everything.

When August Learned Our Names is a hopeful young adult coming-of-age romance about first love, friendship, leaving, and discovering that something doesn't have to last forever to matter.