Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler
Release Date: June 2009
Rating: 5/5 stars
Put on Hold
It’s my mission in life is to make you care about these words, Anna. About these people and everything they say and everything they were. He traced the lines of my face with his fingers as he spoke. Every story is a part of a whole, entire life, you know? Happy and sad and tragic and whatever, but an entire life. And books let you know them. (p. 167)
It’s been a year since Matt first kissed Anna on her 15th birthday. A year since her dreams came true and she fell in love. A year since a tragic accident took Matt away from them. No one seems to be able move on, but perhaps a trip to Zanzibar Bay could be the perfect thing. And Frankie swears that it’s the perfect place to meet twenty boys in less than a month. Anna agrees to the scheme, unable to tell her best friend that she’s already experienced her first great romance with Frankie’s brother, Matt.
Life at Zanzibar Bay is anything but easy sailing. Anna finds herself buried in memories of conversations with Matt as she steps in the very places he used to write and tell her about. Afraid of erasing her memories of him, Anna ignores each new boy they meet. Well, that is until Jake enters the picture. With his help, she may just be able to find the strength to move on and allow herself to feel again.