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Book Review of Twenty Boy Summer

Twenty Boy Summer
Twenty Boy Summer
Author: Sarah Ockler
Genre: Literature & Fiction
Book Type: Paperback
shawna-pinsky avatar reviewed on


This book made cry, smile, and laugh. It was an emotional read from beginning to end. I don't know how one should or would act when losing someone in the situation Anna did. Here she thought she finally got her wish. She and Matt were going to be together. Yet when he died there were no words of love spoken and no true defition given to what they were doing. So here she is left with confusion. She has to be there for her best friend, Matt's sister, but at the sametime trying to figure out how to move on herself. Afterall no one knew about Anna & Matt so what's the appropriate grieving time for a secret relationship when you don't even know if it was a relationship or if you were loved in return.

Throughout the book we get Anna's memories. We get to understand the things that happened between her and Matt in those short weeks prior to his death. We get see how even before things progressed he always thought of Anna and Frankie. The author allowed us to understand that even though they weren't in a more than friends relationship long they were always in eachother's life. We got understand just how close she was to Matt.

Frankie and Anna go on vacation with Frankie's parents to California. Just what everyone needs. Only Frankie decides they need to meet 20 boys while their out there. Only Frankie doesn't know that in Anna's mind she met her boy but he died. So she agrees to this plan thinking it's what Frankie needs and keeps her secret to herself just like she promised.

Anna doesn't realize that during this adventure it might just help her to move on. She learns to let go. Perpahs not during this game but with the consequences of when secrets are revealed. The story is about loss, love, friendships, and moving on. Anna realizes at a young age that sad terrible things happen but it doesn't mean you stop living. You can still love the ones you lose but live on and find new love in places least expected.

Like I said this book had me crying. It was heart breaking to read at times. However in the end it was worth the emotional roller coaster. In the end the only person that can really let her know how Matt felt was his sister, the sister she promised to keep their secret from. I would have liked to have had a 5 years later kind of deal. I wanted to find out what happened to Frankie and Anna. How their lives ended up being after finally coping wiht Matt's death. I would have even liked to know what happened to Sam. We don't get to know him as well as Matt through Anna's memories but I liked him.

Overall I enjoyed reading the book and am a little disappointed in myself for having the book as long as I did without reading it.