Review: Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Publishing Date: June 1rst, 2009
Genre: YA Contemporary
Pages: 290 pgs
ISBN: 9780316051590

My Rating: 5 stars


Summary from Goodreads: 
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 Review:
As soon as I was finished reading Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler, I went out to my library and found Twenty Boy Summer and started it almost immediately. I was wondering if this book would be a bit disappointing because I had enjoyed Delilah so much but this book did not disappoint in any way. This was a book that I will have to add to my ever-growing list of books that made me ugly-cry well after the book was finished.
I loved everything about this book. I loved the friendship between Anna and Frankie. It was so raw and so real and it brought me back to my days as a teen with my best friend at the time. I loved going on trips together but there was also so much that we were afraid to tell each other. This is the same for Anna and Frankie; Anna hides that she was dating Frankie's brother and Frankie lies to Anna because of her insecurities.
I loved the family dynamics in this novel as well. As close as Anna is to Frankie's family she will never fully be a part of it and I think Anna's mother worried about that when she sent Anna to Zanzibar Bay. Anna is stuck kind of floating because while she is not a part of Frankie's family her grief is very real and she really has no one to talk to about it.
I could not put this book down and it had my emotions on high the entire time I was reading this novel. I kept thinking of how unfair life can be sometimes. I know that this was a novel and therefore not real but things like this happen all the time and it really makes you feel thankful for what you have in life. Overall I give this book 5 out of 5 stars and I think I have found myself a new favourite author.