Twenty Boy Summer
Little, Brown Young Readers, June 2009
When someone you love dies, people ask you how you're doing, but they don't really want to know. They seek affirmation that you're okay,
that you appreciate their concern, that life goes on and so can they. Secretly they wonder when the statute of limitations on asking expires. (It's three months, by the way. Written or unwritten, that's about all the time it takes for people to forget the one thing that you never will.)
They don't want to know that you'll never again eat birthday cake because you don't want to erase the magical taste of the frosting on
his lips. That you wake up every day wondering why you got to live and
he didn't. That on the first afternoon of your first real vacation, you
sit in front of the ocean, face hot under the giant sun, willing him to
give you a sign that he's okay.
hardcover | ISBN: 9780316051590 | Publication Date: June 2009
Reviews:
"Twenty Boy Summer is a tender and heartfelt story of love,
loss, and letting go."
--Deb Caletti, author of National Book Award finalist Honey, Baby,
Sweetheart
"Ockler brings the salty tang of the ocean waves and the tingling
anticipation of a first kiss to delicate life, while simultaneously
evoking the mixed-up feelings of the friends, family, and loves left
behind."
--Lisa Ann Sandell, author of The Weight of the Sky and Song
of the Sparrow
"Reading this book felt like diving underwater and emerging with wise
little gems about friendship, grieving, and love."
--Laura Resau, author of Red Glass
"Breaks your heart and puts it back together again."
--Jo Knowles, author of Lessons from a Dead Girl and Jumping
Off Swings
