Twenty Boy Summer By Sarah Ockler- Friday Rewind

Friday Rewind is an idea I got from Before The Blog which is/was a feature hosted by YA Litwit... and is super cool! The whole idea is that we've all been reading a lot longer than we've been blogging, so why not pull out one of those old books and feature it?? It's a way to rediscover books from our past...
(I'm calling it Friday Rewind now because I don't think this feature is active anymore)

Go to YA Litwit and check it out!

 

My choice this week is:

 

Twenty Boy Summer

By: Sarah Ockler

 

Why did you choose this book? I chose this book because it seems like it pops up on my blog a lot.  I've featured it on Top Ten Tuesday several times and commented on it when reviewing other books, so I thought it was time I pulled out the actual review! 

When did you read this book? September '11 (wow only a little over a year ago??  I feel like it was WAY longer... I read too much!!)

Who would you recommend this book to? I recommend this to anyone who liked The Sky is Everywhere By: Jandy Nelson or Fall For Anything By: Courtney Summers

Goodreads Synopsis:

"Don’t worry, Anna. I’ll tell her, okay? Just let me think about the best way to do it."
"Okay."
"Promise me? Promise you won’t say anything?"
"Don’t worry.” I laughed. “It’s our secret, right?"

According to Anna’s best friend, Frankie, twenty days in Zanzibar Bay is the perfect opportunity to have a summer fling, and if they meet one boy every day, there’s a pretty good chance Anna will find her first summer romance. Anna lightheartedly agrees to the game, but there’s something she hasn’t told Frankie–she’s already had her romance, and it was with Frankie’s older brother, Matt, just before his tragic death one year ago.

TWENTY BOY SUMMER explores what it truly means to love someone, what it means to grieve, and ultimately, how to make the most of every beautiful moment life has to offer.

My Thoughts:

This book hurt my heart!!

Anna has spent her whole life being friends with her neighbors Frankie and Matt... then Matt unexpectedly kisses her and they begin a short secret relationship.  Matt doesn't want to tell Frankie until they go on vacation because he thinks it will give her time to adjust to the idea (and not feel bad that their threesome has suddenly paired off).  The day before vacation Matt dies and Anna never tells anyone about what went on between them.

Now it's a year later and Anna is going to California with Frankie instead of Matt.  Obviously Anna feels it's too soon to go there, but she wants to be a supportive friend.  Frankie has turned into a boy-crazy, sexy clothes wearing, makeup obsessed, cigarette-smoking bad girl.  Anna is just along for the ride, still holding in all her pain about what could've been for her and Matt.
Then Frankie decides they're going to meet 20 boys on this trip, 1 per day....

I love it when I have low expectations for a book and it rocks my world!  I went into this thinking it was going to be a light easy book about girls trying to meet 20 guys... a comedy even!  I guess I forgot to read the back of the book...oops!  It worked out though because it was so much more than anything I would've expected anyhow.

It was truly touching to read what Anna was going through all alone.  My only beef with this book was that Frankie needed punched!  I know she was grieving and all but !!!! that's no excuse for all the crazy/rude stuff she does.  Anna deserved a better friend.

Overall:  I LOVED LOVED LOVED IT!  It wasn't just a sad story... there were a lot of really cute moments and things that made me smile.  But then there were the parts that made me hurt!  Anna is an awesome character and it makes you just want to fix things for her!

My Rating: