Snow In Summer

*You may be looking for the in-universe memoir.*

*Snow In Summer*

Author
Todd Dawson-Cooper

Universe
D-242

Country
Canada

Genre(s)
Teen, Romance, LGBT,
Ergodic literature

Publisher
N/A

Publication date
TBA

ISBN
N/A

Preceded by
Of Cigarettes & Copulation

Followed by
The Lost World

***Snow In Summer*** is a young adult lesbian coming-of-age romantic-comedy and is the third book in the *The Placebo Effect* series by Todd Dawson-Cooper and the final book in the *Blank Earth* trilogy.

*Snow In Summer* marks a significant departure from the previous two installments both in tone and format, as the narrative is presented as a embedded narrative: the bulk of the novel is an unabridged copy of the eponymous in-universe memoir penned by protagonist Alex Peterson, interspersed with a series of notes, diaries, pieces of manuscript, and archived electronic messages, while a first-person present-set narrative opens and closes the book.

## Synopsis

September 5th, 2006. Alexis Peterson is unusually eager to start her first day of eighth grade, her routine is the same as always, and it's not a surprise when her usual friends are there to greet her with warm smiles. You see, in the small town of Aurora Creek, nothing ever really changes. Well, that is, until ten minutes into first period when Ariel Reitman awkwardly waltzes into her classroom.

Sure, a new face is extremely rare in these parts, but there's something more than that, Ariel's face is that of a fiery ginger punk from the big city, and at that moment, something deep inside Alexis flutters. She tenses up, her cheeks turn red, her hands get clammy and an anxious sweat drops from her brow. What is going on? Just what in the world is happening? She tries to tell her friends and parents about how she's feeling, but the words just... don't.

Then, the next day, when Alexis goes to close her locker door - there she is again, this time, asking her if she wants to hang out. The words hardly form, but yes, she wants to know everything about this new girl, and what sparks beyond that is an incredible feel-good story of ardor and endearment, and many, many firsts.

## Development

*Snow In Summer* began it's earliest stages of conceptualization in mid-2002 as ***Sister & Sister***. At least partially inspired by the market saturation of *Mary Kate & Ashley* films and novellas; *Sister & Sister* would follow a blossoming romance between two step-siblings, whilst in the middle of a "time crisis" that sends both dinosaurs from the past and Terminator-esque cyborgs from the future to the modern-day. In 2005, the project was retitled *Snow In Summer* and less than a year later, was scrapped entirely. However, several elements of this initial concept would reappear in the early drafts of *Dark Africa* -- which would later become *The Lost World*.

In February of 2018, *Snow In Summer* revitalized itself as an installment in *The Placebo Effect* series. Initially envisioned as a Phase Three novel; *Snow In Summer* would serve as a closing to the story of Alexis Peterson, set shortly after the events of *Holmes*, with flashbacks to various points in her youth. However, Cooper's enthusiasm and interest in the novel's potential and narrative freedom eventually led to it taking the place of *The Rain of April* as the third installment in Phase One. With both stories being prequels to *Blank Earth* and *Of Cigarettes & Copulation* centered around the character of Alexis Peterson. Cooper felt that *The Rain of April* was too close to *Blank Earth* in terms of tone and felt that having the character of Jacob Delsin return as the main character/narrator immediately after the character's starring role and seeming demise in *Of Cigarettes & Copulation* would make the franchise seem disjointed, and, as such opted to relegate that story to the *Nihilist Apathy* anthology instead.

Like the aforementioned titles, *Snow In Summer* would do away with the supernatural themes and plot of it's initial concept in favor of the trilogy's grounded realism, but would mark a notable tonal shift away from the gritty, mature and urban tone of it's two predecessors, instead lending influence from several young adult, romance and mid-2000s teen comedy films and literature to create a more fluffy and nostalgic slice-of-life novel, more aptly compared by the author to "pages of a diary". To that point, Cooper spent much time analyzing archived message boards, MySpace and AOL pages of the era, as well as teenage vlogs both from the mid-2000s and modern day, to better understand the inner workings of a girl working through puberty, particularly those who were social outcasts or dealing with coming out as gay or bisexual.

Likewise, the novel's heavy "noughtstalgia" and sunny autumn/rural setting was chosen in deliberate contrast to the other novels in the trilogy, with *Blank Earth's* rainy, mid-April suburban Seattle locale mirroring the grungy street-aesthetic of the 1990s, while *Of Cigarettes & Copulation's* late-night winter and metropolitan New York setting mirroring 1980s neo-noir, action films, and gothic post-punk aesthetic.

## Influences & Themes

*Snow In Summer* was influenced (to various extents) by numerous existing works and pop culture including *Emily Is Away Too, Gone Home, Call Me By Your Name, Bridge To Terabithia, Superbad, Le Bleu Est Une Couleur Chaude, Show Me Love, Eighth Grade, Mean Girls, Bend It Like BeckhamThe Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls In Love, Eleanor & Park, Katawa Shoujo, The Fault In Our Stars, You Know Me Well, Some Kind of Wonderful, My So-Called Life, Firewatch, Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, Juno, She's All That, [Thirteen], [American Pie], [Life Is Strange], [High School Musical], [Twilight],* and *[The Perks of Being A Wallflower]*.