Second Chance Summer
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4.6 • 14 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
From the Flying Start author of Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour comes a powerful novel about hope in the face of heartbreak.
Taylor Edwards’s family might not be the closest-knit—everyone is a little too busy and overscheduled—but for the most part, they get along just fine. Then, Taylor’s dad gets devastating news, and her parents decide that the family will spend one last summer all together at their old lake house in the Pocono Mountains.
Crammed into a place much smaller and more rustic than they are used to, they begin to get to know each other again. And Taylor discovers that the people she thought she had left behind haven’t actually gone anywhere. Her former best friend is still around, as is her first boyfriend—and he’s much cuter at seventeen than he was at twelve.
As the summer progresses and the Edwards become more of a family, they’re more aware than ever that they’re battling a ticking clock. Sometimes, though, there is just enough time to get a second chance with family, with friends, and with love.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Seventeen-year-old Taylor and her family her mother, father, older brother, and younger sister are off to the Poconos for the summer, whether everyone wants to or not. Taylor falls in the latter category. Returning to their lake house after a five-year absence fills her with dread: she'll have to face her estranged best friend as well as the boy she left without saying goodbye. But hardest of all, her father is dying of cancer, making this their last summer together. Matson (Amy & Roger's Epic Detour) writes subtly about complex family dynamics, grief, and the impending loss of a parent in a way that is both beautiful and true, while steering clear of melodrama. Matson's story, which shifts between the present and flashbacks from five previous summers, is as much about loss as it is about first love and friendship. Readers who love the work of Sarah Dessen and Jenny Han will feel intensely for this cast of vulnerable characters who demonstrate integrity, personality, and perseverance as they work to bridge the distances between them. Ages 12 up.
