Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

Title: Twenty Boy Summer
Author: Sarah Ockler
Published: June 2009 by Little Brown Books

My Rating: 5 stars
Tags: YA | Realistic | Girls | Romance
Includes: Brief profanity, Sexual Content, Alcohol Abuse, Sex

First Lines: Frankie Perino and I were lucky that day. Lucky to be alive - that's what everyone said. I got a fractured wrist and a banged-up knee, and my best friend Frankie got a fat little scar above her left eye, breaking her eyebrow into two reflective halves.

Anna and Frankie, inseparable best friends, are looking for a summer romance while they vacation in California.. but they're still grieving for Matt, who was Frankie's older brother and Anna's secret boyfriend. As Anna tries to comfort Frankie's grief, and her own, the secret of her love for Matt threatens to destroy their friendship.

From Page 5
His messy black hair and bright blue eyes cast a spell on me, muffling the chatter outside as if we'd been dunked under water.

I have heard a LOT of great talk about this book, and now I can see why. I dove right into the story, connecting to shy and secretive Anna - the main character. I couldn't believe this was Sarah Ockler's debut book because the writing was just spectacular! I would've thought she had been writing books for years and years. I could literally feel Anna's heartache and longing for Matt throughout the book - and I'll admit that I cried a few more times than I had expected.

Halfway through the novel, it started to wind down a little bit for me and I wasn't sure where the story was headed. Chapters passed, and nothing big was happening. I kept anticipating for Anna to finally come clean and share her big secret with Frankie already. But OH MY GOODNESS...when you hit the climax in this book it will just shatter your heart into little bits and pieces! (Well, for me it did anyway.) I felt so many different emotions as I ripped through the pages, wondering what conflict would arise next. I felt frustrated for Anna; sad, angry, lonely, happy, overwhelmed - basically I just literally felt like I was IN the story. I love that feeling. :)

One thing that I didn't like at all at first was the fact that Frankie and Anna acted like virginity was nothing. That's the whole reason the book is called, "Twenty Boy Summer." Because they plan to meet a different boy each day that they are in California, in hopes of finding the one that Anna can give her purity to. I'm a big believer in abstinence so I didn't really like the idea.

From Page 57
At the airport, we check in, drop off our luggage, and follow the signs to the security checkpoint. "First time through the X-ray machine, first time on a plane, first time in California...I'm sensing a theme here, Anna. You know, first times?" Frankie wiggles her eyebrows and steps through the machine.

This is an amazing heart-touching book that you must read! I was very content with the ending, and happy with how it all turned out in the end. I feel like all the bits and pieces of it came together, all the loose ends tied together, and the stray pieces completing the puzzle.



***Spoiler!!!!*** Don't read if you haven't read the book yet!****



At first, after Anna slept with Sam, I was soo disappointed. I thought that she would actually stand up for herself in front of Frankie and admit that her virginity was special to her...instead of giving into peer pressure. But now, after I finish the book and I reflect back on it, I'm not so upset about it anymore. I feel like the story would've been a lot different without that scene. And it was almost an eye-opener for Frankie, that it's not about the number of guys you try to hook up with, but the feeling of being loved. However, I still wish she didn't do it with him...she's never even going to see him again. And usually in books/movies, after the girl gives up her virginity she feels guilty, dirty, or sad afterward - to show the viewer that it's not right. In this book it was the total opposite because Anna was glad that she had sex with him, even afterwards.. *Update: read my post, where Sarah discusses this topic!

Book Supplied by: Bought it at my nearest Borders bookstore!