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Brought Me to Incredible Places
Rapid City Summer follows a resentful fifteen-year-old runner whose move from Chicago to South Dakota leads her toward new friendships, family healing, outdoor adventure, and a stronger sense of identity. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
There were a few sources of inspiration; the most prominent being my work as a middle school ELA teacher. Students in that age group (ages 12-14) are starting to get too old for most middle grade books, and some young adult titles have more mature themes and content. I wanted to write a novel that fit this young teen age group, with characters and topics they could relate to and learn from. I was also inspired by how the outdoors has shaped who I am today, and I wanted to share that with readers, too.
Why did you choose running and fly fishing as the activities that shape Natalie’s growth?
Running and fly fishing are both passions of mine that have greatly shaped who I am today. Both sports have taught me lots of important lessons, such as patience and delayed gratification. They have brought me to incredible places and connected me with great people. I also enjoy reading stories that include more “niche” topics, and you don’t see a lot of fiction that includes fly fishing!
How did you develop the warm but complicated relationship between Natalie and her grandmother?
Natalie’s grandmother was inspired by my relationship with my own grandma (except she was around my entire childhood, unlike Natalie and her grandmother). Growing up, my grandma was like a second parent to me, and I value all the time I got to spend with her. As a reader, I gravitate toward stories with complicated family dynamics, so I wanted to infuse some of that into this story, too. Ultimately, I wanted to showcase how meaningful and valuable grandparent/grandchild relationships are, and the scenes with Natalie and her grandma were some of my favorite scenes to write.
What research or personal experience helped you portray the landscapes, wildlife, and outdoor culture of South Dakota?
My husband’s family is from South Dakota, and we’ve been traveling there together for the past decade. We’re both teachers, so we spend part of our summer break fly fishing in different states, including South Dakota. I brought a lot of my personal experiences into this story, with some fictional fishing stories mixed in, too. While writing Rapid City Summer, I wanted to share the beauty of South Dakota and Montana with readers, without giving away all my favorite spots, so I did change the names of certain locations! I hope readers feel like they are transported to the mountains and rivers when they read Rapid City Summer.
Author Links: GoodReads | Website
When her mother takes a new job in Rapid City, South Dakota, Natalie is forced to trade her friends, her track team, and the life she loved for something completely unfamiliar. Now she’s stuck navigating a new town, a complicated relationship with her estranged grandmother, and unexpected feelings for the boy next door.
Nothing feels like home. But the Black Hills have a way of changing people.
As Natalie learns to fly fish, she begins to find confidence, independence, and a new sense of purpose. What starts as a reluctant summer becomes something more—a chance to discover who she really is. Then everything changes.
After a trip to Montana, Natalie is faced with news that will test everything she’s learned. Now she must decide: retreat to the comfort of who she was, or step forward into who she’s becoming.
Rapid City Summer is a heartfelt coming-of-age story about resilience, identity, and finding your place when life takes an unexpected turn. Perfect for readers who enjoy emotional YA fiction, strong female protagonists, and stories set against the backdrop of the American West.
Rapid City Summer
Connie Richardson’s Rapid City Summer is a young adult coming-of-age novel about Natalie, a fifteen-year-old runner whose family moves from the Chicago suburbs to Rapid City, South Dakota. She arrives resentful, lonely, and doubtful that her new home has much to offer, asking, “What’s so great about South Dakota besides a mountain with some old guys’ heads on it?” Her outlook begins to change when she meets Adam, the boy next door, who introduces her to fly fishing and the landscapes of the Black Hills. As Natalie joins a new cross-country team, forms friendships, and reconnects with her spirited grandmother, the move becomes an opportunity to reconsider who she is and what she values.
Richardson gives the novel a strong sense of place through its creeks, trails, wildlife, fishing trips, and wide western skies. Fly fishing is more than a recreational detail. It provides Natalie with patience, confidence, and a way to become attentive to the world around her. Running serves a similar purpose, linking the person she was in Illinois with the person she’s becoming in South Dakota. These activities keep the story active while supporting its larger themes of independence, resilience, and belonging. The outdoor scenes are especially effective because they’re grounded in physical details and in Natalie’s believable mixture of curiosity, fear, and excitement.
The novel’s emotional center lies in Natalie’s changing relationships. Her growing bond with her grandmother is warm, lively, and complicated by longstanding tension within the family. When her grandmother suffers a stroke, Natalie’s grief and determination add greater weight to their planned 5K. Her friendship with Adam also develops thoughtfully through mistakes, apologies, shared risks, and honest conversations about his family. At the same time, Natalie’s fading friendship with Syd and her connection with new teammates show that growing up can involve recognizing which relationships encourage personal growth. Richardson handles these developments in a direct, accessible style that suits Natalie’s age and perspective.
Rapid City Summer presents adolescence as a period of active discovery shaped by new places, meaningful relationships, and the courage to try unfamiliar things. Natalie’s transformation feels convincing because it unfolds through repeated choices. By the end, she has found a community, a creative purpose through her outdoor social media channel, and a clearer sense of herself. Her conclusion, “South Dakota was the place where I finally felt like me,” captures the novel’s central achievement. Richardson has written an engaging, hopeful story about finding identity through movement, family, friendship, and the natural world.
Pages: 243 | ASIN: 1685135927
