Danielle Reads

Second Chance Summer

By Morgan Matson

Published: May 8, 2012
Simon and Schuster, 480 pages

Taylor Edwards’ 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.
- Amazon.com description

 Second Chance Summer is a heartfelt tale of learning to let go while also allowing yourself to be vulnerable and open to other people. Taylor Edwards has always run away when hard situations present themselves, rather than dealing with things straightaway. After she finds out her dad is terminally ill and is taken on a summer trip to her family's lakehouse where old memories, friendships, and hurts threaten to return, Taylor is finally forced to deal with the hard and terrifying realities of her life for the first time.

Throughout the summer, Taylor grows immensely in various ways. She deals with her father slipping away, grows closer with her family, reunites with her best friend and boyfriend from five summers ago, and heals the rifts between them.

I definitely enjoyed this book. It is a great mixture of heavy, emotional material with lighthearted summer fun, romance and friendship.