Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (Hachette Group)
Released: June 1st, 2009
Genre: YA contemp
Bought after some douche tried to get it banned in the US.

“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 her best friend Frankie, twenty days in Zanzibar Bay is the perfect opportunity to have a summer fling, and if they meet one boy ever 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 that kind of romance, and it was with Frankie’s older brother, Matt, just before his tragic death one year ago.

Beautifully written and emotionally honest, this is a debut novel that explores what it truly means to love someone and what it means to grieve, and ultimately, how to make the most of every single moment this world has to offer.

From Hachette website.

So a while back some religious fanatic freak douchebag was trying to get Twenty Boy Summer banned. I think the reason was because Anna and her best friend were planning to hook up with 20 different guys. Or maybe it was the very PG13 sex scene. But most likely it was the aforementioned douchebaggery. Because I read this book, fell in love with this book and so couldn’t see the issue.

To say Twenty Boy Summer wasn’t at all what I was expecting would be putting it mildly. For some reason I thought this was going to be funny, light and a bit fluffy. So, let me warn you now: it is none of these things. I basically cried my way through the book, having to stop a few times to get myself together. Ockler attacks the issue of loss and how different people deal with it in different ways so honestly that at times the book was painful to read. What Anna and Frankie go through, both together and apart, is nothing short of heart wrenching.

Like most books that unknowing and small-minded twits try to get band, this is an important read for teens, especially if they’ve lost someone in their lives. And it’s one of the most touching and honest books I’ve ever read. So much so that I’m actually getting a bit emotional as I write this review and I’m having a hard time getting my feelings about Twenty Boy Summer down.

I guess it boils down to this: Twenty Boy Summer moved me. It wasn’t overwrought with a lot of hand-wringing and such, but the book is filled with so much emotion that it’s basically spilling from the pages. Ockler wrote a beautiful and important YA novel. And anyone who thinks that there is anything wrong or dirty about this book seriously needs some help.