Twenty Boy Summer (YA)

Ockler, Sarah. 2009. Twenty Boy Summer. Little, Brown. 290 pages.

Frankie Perino and I were lucky that day. Lucky to be alive -- that's what everyone said. I got a fractured wrist and a banged-up knee, and my best friend Frankie got a fat little scar above her left eye, breaking her eyebrow into two reflective halves. Up one side, down the other. Happy, sad. Shock, awe. Before, after.
Before, all of us were lucky.
After, only me and Frankie.
That's what everyone said.

There's a rightness about Twenty Boy Summer. I don't know how helpful it is to you to know that I felt the novel to be just right. To feel natural and authentic. But it's important to me as a reader to connect with a book, to connect with the characters. And with Twenty Boy Summer, I definitely did. From the start, I began to feel for Anna.

Frankie and Anna are best friends. Always have been, always will be. And when the novel opens, these two share the same pain. Two hearts mourning the loss of one boy, Matt: a brother, a best friend. But is this enough to hold them together during a difficult time? Their friendship is about to be tested when past secrets are brought to light. But just who betrayed who? Can this friendship survive a summer vacation?

It's a novel about friendship, love, and loss. It's about wanting to both hold on and let go. It's about wanting to hold on to yesterday and yet choosing to live for tomorrow. It's about not knowing exactly what you want but knowing that something has to change or is about to change. It's a bittersweet novel--in a way--because it deals with death and grief. But it's good. So I definitely recommend it.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews