As not only a coming of age novel but one based on the author's own childhood, Sag Harbor excells at portraying the different aspects of what summer is like growing up. From the excitment and desire to reinvent yourself that comes with the start of the summer, to the bittersweetness of the end, Sag Harbor uses these universal parts of the summer experience as a teenager to make the novel even more compelling. Regardless of whether you stay in the same place all summer, or don't do nearly as many things as Benji and his friends did, there will likely be an aspect of the novel that's relatable. For me, one of the aspects of summer that Colson Whitehead did the best at portraying was the bittersweet feeling that comes with the end of it. T he final chapter of Sag Harbor, called "The Black National Anthem", represents the culmination of the events of the summer, and includes an outlook on the schoolyear to come. It also features Benji co...