"Twenty Boy Summer" by Sarah Ockler

290 pages

Anna is about to leave her home in New York for a twenty-day vacation on the coast of California with her best friend Frankie's family. Frankie thinks it's time Anna had a summer romance, so she convinces Anna to make a pledge: meet a boy for each day they'll be in Zanzibar Bay, and thus almost guarantee a fling. What Frankie doesn't know, however, is that Anna has already had a fling--with Frankie's older brother, Matt, a year earlier. In fact, it was more than a fling; Anna and Matt were in love, but his sudden, tragic death tore him away from her as well as the rest of his family. Matt and Anna hadn't told Frankie about their relationship--they'd been waiting for the right time--and Anna has kept their secret to herself even after his death. She feels like it would hurt Frankie to know that they kept something so important from her, and Frankie is struggling enough as it is. Anna doesn't know how to tell Frankie that she doesn't want to meet a boy because that would mean forgetting about Matt. And how can she help her best friend move on if she can't do it herself?

I hadn't heard of this book before it got all kinds of press because the Republic School District banned it. After that, I was interested and had to read it (me and a lot of other people--take that, book banners!). The cover makes it look like a typical teen romance, but it is much much more than that. It's actually more about friendship than romantic love, and most of all about grieving. It examines how losing someone can change a person forever and how people learn to move on while keeping the memory of their loved one alive. A blurb on the cover claims that it will "break your heart and put it back together again," and I completely agree with that. Ockler is wonderful at developing characters; I really cared about them. We only spend a few chapters with Matt, but after seeing him through Anna's eyes I was devastated when he died. Sad as it is, it ultimately left me feeling inspired. I recommend it for everyone--if for nothing else, to spite the book banners :).