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First Summer by Ekin Oklap

from $10.80
Hardcover:

“For readers who loved Call Me By Your Name.” — Dua Lipa’s Service95

A dreamy debut novel about the summer love that changes two girls at the edge of adulthood.

“In the heat and the green haze that seemed to surround us both like a physical presence, I felt intensely awake.”

One afternoon at the start of summer, a teenage girl watches a new girl move in across the street. In Clara, she recognizes the same loneliness that she feels herself, but finds tenderness and laughter, too. Over hot, languid days spent talking and reading side by side in the garden, the narrator is awakened to the possibility of a true connection with another human being, free of the self-consciousness she feels with others. Meanwhile, in a distant fictional galaxy, Nadia the space explorer—the protagonist of a childhood book series beloved by both girls—traverses the known universe with her companion Rosa. Their imagined adventures make sense of new and powerful feelings. First Summer captures the innocence and agony of adolescence and the exquisite promise of love on the cusp of adulthood: a moment where fantasy is still vivid in the mind, even as adulthood looms. This story of the first summer of love echoes throughout the characters’ lives and will change them forever.

“For readers who loved Call Me By Your Name.” — Dua Lipa’s Service95

A dreamy debut novel about the summer love that changes two girls at the edge of adulthood.

“In the heat and the green haze that seemed to surround us both like a physical presence, I felt intensely awake.”

One afternoon at the start of summer, a teenage girl watches a new girl move in across the street. In Clara, she recognizes the same loneliness that she feels herself, but finds tenderness and laughter, too. Over hot, languid days spent talking and reading side by side in the garden, the narrator is awakened to the possibility of a true connection with another human being, free of the self-consciousness she feels with others. Meanwhile, in a distant fictional galaxy, Nadia the space explorer—the protagonist of a childhood book series beloved by both girls—traverses the known universe with her companion Rosa. Their imagined adventures make sense of new and powerful feelings. First Summer captures the innocence and agony of adolescence and the exquisite promise of love on the cusp of adulthood: a moment where fantasy is still vivid in the mind, even as adulthood looms. This story of the first summer of love echoes throughout the characters’ lives and will change them forever.

  • Publisher: Summit Books

    Title: First Summer

    Author: Ekin Oklap

    On Sale Date: August 18, 2026

    ISBN 13: 9781668225790

    ISBN 10: 1668225794

    Format: Hardcover

    Retail Price: $27.00

    BISAC: Fiction / LGBTQ+ / General; Fiction / Literary

    Page Count: 208 pages

  • Ekin Oklap was born in Turkey, grew up in Italy, and now lives in London. She has worked as a translator of Turkish and Italian literature, and her translations have been shortlisted for the International Booker Prize and the John Florio Prize. First Summer is her debut novel.

  • Critics and fellow bestselling authors are calling it intimate, luminous, and tender:

    • “An intimate story of self-discovery.” — Orhan Pamuk

    • “Luminous…will immerse readers in its heady and tender story of young love.” — Booklist (starred review)

    • “A reflective, slightly dreamy read” that explores “the tenderness of first connections.” — Piglet in Bed

    • “A gentle, beautifully written, queer coming-of-age novel.” — Motherbooker

This book is for you if

  • You remember the specific loneliness of being a teenager who hadn’t found her person yet.

  • You want a debut novel praised by Orhan Pamuk himself.

  • You like stories that braid real adolescence with the sci-fi worlds we escaped into.

  • You’re looking for a queer coming-of-age novel that’s tender rather than tidy.

  • You want one perfect, unhurried summer between two girls who understand each other.

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