on. She knows how to act with boys, and this trait sometimes makes Angie jealous. Swede Vincent: Jack's friend who goes sailing with him and Angie. Fitz: Jack's friend who often goes on double dates with him and Angie. Margie: A girl in Jack's group of friends, with whom Angie becomes friends. She and Fitz are going steady. Dollie: A younger girl who Swede sometimes dates. Themes The main theme is first love. The growth of the love between Jack and Angie is symbolized in the novel by the growth of plants—at the beginning of the summer everything is lush and green, but as it ends the autumn frosts are setting in. The love has a distinct beginning at the start of summer and a distinct death at the end of summer. There is also a theme of propriety in the novel. While Jack introduces Angie to a crowd whose behavior conflicts with the way she was raised, she retains her sense of propriety and never becomes a flirt or goes wild. Lorraine does not behave properly (according to the mores of the time), and because of this is embarrassed to be with her own family (first on the Fourth of July, then when she sees Angie and Jack out on a date, and finally when she leaves for school). The novel also explores the pressure of appearances, or adherence to social norms. Angie often worries about how a girl is supposed to act towards a boy, or how people view her when she goes out without a date. A group of boys called the "checkers" often gather in the drugstore or on the street corner to keep an eye on who is dating whom; Angie considers people to be important if the checkers pay attention to them. When she starts dating Jack, she is pleased to be seen dating and to be a part of the in crowd. Literary significance and criticism Some critics claim that "the modern period of young adult literature is often said to have begun with Seventeenth Summer". Daly is a teen writing for teens and her work influenced other writers to write specifically with the young adult audience in mind. Dwight Burton claims that, because Daly was so near adolescence herself, "Seventeenth Summer captures better than any other novel, the spirit of adolescents." The book was controversial for its time. Although the relationship between