Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler, published by Little, Brown and Company.
I had been wanting to read this book for a while but it was hardcover and expensive and bumped down a few notches on my reading list. I found the perfect opportunity when I got to the Teen Festival and realized that not only was Sarah Ockler there but the book was also just released in paperback! So of course I bought it and had her sign it on the spot. I felt bad that I hadn't read it yet, but she was incredibly sweet. Twenty Boy Summer is her first novel so I think she was pretty excited (and privileged I might add) to be at the Teen Festival with many distinguished young adult authors.
The premise of this novel was intriguing. Anna and Frankie are sixteen-year-old best friends who have been friends their whole life. Their friendship always had a third counterpart: Frankie's older brother, Matt. However, Matt died in a combination heart failure-car accident the year before the novel starts. Before his death Anna and Matt shared a kiss that changed their entire friendship. Their feelings for each other intensified and Matt planned to tell Frankie about the two of them but his death changed all of that. Anna felt she had to keep the secret and her promise to Matt so she didn't admit it to anyone except the pages of her journal.
I find the theme of this book more beautiful and poetic than the actual plot. Anna has to find a way to grieve and remember Matt but also forgive him for leaving her, accept that he isn't coming back, and move on to actually living her life. The theme is taking advantage of every single moment and living life to its fullest. There aren't any second chances, so be grateful for every moment that you have. Anna tends to dwell on her memories and often thinks "what if" in the hopes that if one thing had occurred differently she would have inadvertently saved Matt's life. That would have been devastating for me because my favorite parts were Anna's memories of Matt.
Ockler describes their first kiss beautifully, "I kissed him back. I forgot time. I forgot my feet. I forgot the people outside, waiting for us to rejoin the party. I forgot what happens when friends cross into this space. And if my lungs didn't fill and my heart didn't beat and my blood didn't pump without my intervention, I would have forgotten them, too" (pg 7). Most of the book follows Anna's frustration and exhaustion over keeping this secret from Frankie. Frankie wants them to meet/kiss twenty boys over their summer vacation and in the midst find true love. Anna doesn't have the heart to tell her that she already found her true love. What is unexpected is that Anna does find herself having feelings for a boy in Zanzibar Bay, Sam. I didn't want to think that she could find love so easily after Matt, but she is only sixteen therefore she has her love ahead of her. She didn't get to experience much of love with Matt besides a few weeks of sneaking around. I suspect it would be easier for her to move on than for someone in a serious relationship. I think this makes her sadness revolving Matt's death more about his friendship and his stage as a brother-figure in her life rather than as a potential lover. "But when he died, I saw---nothing. There was nothing left to see. It happened and it was impossible and beautiful and then it ended before it even really began, leaving nothing behind but secrets and broken hearts" (pg 267).
It was a good book and I'm definitely glad that I read it, however it wasn't as much of a page-turner as I was expecting. I wonder if I would have liked it better if the beginning featured Anna's little affair with Matt and then we experienced the car accident in the present and then jumped ahead to the future, rather than being a year ahead and looking back every so often to explain what happened. I think it would have allowed for a wider range of emotions and for me to really connect with Anna better. Regardless, I love how Anna developed during the novel into a mature young woman who not only accepted what happened but also realized that Matt will always be with her, just as Sam will always be with her. She can't allow her life to stall and plateau every time there is a difficult feeling or decision. Every moment will forever change her but she can choose to have them change her for the better.
I will be keeping my eye on Sarah Ockler. If you like Twenty Boy Summer, her next novel is Fixing Delilah Hannaford and will be released November 2010.
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