This is my first summer, since I was your age, that I have had hours of free time during the day to relax, be outside, and read books. Let me tell you, it is wonderful. So, for my first book I wanted to pick something light, summery and carefree. When I saw Morgan Matson's book in last book order at the end of the year, with is peach cover featuring a girl sitting on a dock at sunset, I thought I had found the perfect book. It turns out, I had picked a perfect and wonderful first read, but not for the reasons I expected.
FAIR WARNING: do not read the last 100 pages of this book without a box of Kleenexes and some personal space, it is a tear-jerker.
Taylor is about to be a senior in high school and has just found out her dad has been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. There is no cure for this type of cancer and the doctor has told her family that he will only live for a few more short months. He decides he wants to spend the summer with her family at their lake home that they had not returned do since Taylor was 12. It turns out then when she was 12 she left abruptly after a fight with her best friend and her first boyfriend and had never returned. The summer for Taylor turns out to be incredibly meaningful as she mends her relationships there and really gets to know her father while she still has a chance. Needless to say, this book is extremely sad. It is also a very lovely book and you will not be able to put it down. I cried at the end of this book like a big library baby, and I am not talking about just a couple of tears people. However, if a book can make you cry like that, it is a real testament to the writing!
I highly recommend this book and if you can't find it at the public library this summer it will be on the new book shelf during the 2 days we are open and at the beginning of next year!
