About the Book

Four friends drive across France in what should be the holiday of a lifetime. But Sasha’s struggling with her dad getting remarried; Cam is reeling from being rejected by her birth grandparents; Hetal’s terrified of letting everyone down; and Nell’s worried that while she’s away her relationship with Tom is falling apart. When things go wrong and emotions run high, will they have what it takes to rekindle their friendship?

They need to remember why they’re friends. They need a road trip to end all road trips. They need a summer under the stars.

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About the Author:

Kate Mallinder is a children’s writer. She also writes non-fiction, narrative non-fiction and reading scheme books for a range of publishers and a range of ages. The short stories, flash fiction and short plays she writes tend to be for adults. Several of her short scripts have been made into films.

In 2020 she passed her MA in Writing for Young People at the Bath Spa University with distinction and in 2024 she started working part time as a secondary school librarian.

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The Joy of a Road Trip

When I started thinking about writing a sequel to Summer of No Regrets, I knew right away that it had to be different in one important way: this time, my characters needed to be together.

In Summer of No Regrets, the four girls each went their own way for the summer, chasing individual adventures in a classic “find-yourself” kind of story. But for the sequel, I wanted their friendship to be tested not by distance, but by closeness — literal, emotional, unavoidable closeness. They needed to share the same space, the same air, the same playlist. And what better way to do that than a road trip?

Road trips in fiction are nothing new — they’re basically quests in disguise. But in contemporary YA, there are some reader expectations that come baked in. You need sunshine, a destination, music, snacks, late-night conversations, and at least one total disaster. Summer Under the Stars ticks all those boxes. There’s joy, laughter, frustration, and the kind of tiny moments that can only happen when you’re stuck in a car with people you love… and sometimes want to throttle.

I’ll admit there was a selfish reason for setting the story this way, too. The same reason I wrote about some of my favourite places in Summer of No Regrets. Writing about a place I love means I get to be there in my head — walking the streets, tasting the food, feeling the heat — even if I’m actually at my desk with a lukewarm cup of tea. When I try to write about places that don’t excite me, the story feels flatter. But a road trip through France? That was pure wish fulfilment. I loved every minute of writing it, and I hope you’ll feel some of that joy in the reading, too.