12YOBookClub discussion

This is a discussion thread for our July 2019 pick, Second Chance Summer!

Second Chance Summer was an amazing read. Having read another book by Morgan Matson, I was unsure about how much I would be able to enjoy this book, but the writing and story was really surprising and refreshing. While the premise of second chances and coming of age is still present in this story, the narrative of loss and mourning really does a lot to push the story forward. The lens makes everything more serious, and thus, it minimizes a lot of the childish "miscommunication" issues that occur in romance and young adult literature. I think the line of thought that adolescence causes people to think that "end all be all" thoughts are childish is actually really invalidating of children and young adults. However, the main characters experience with lose really grounds the emotions she's having about normal growing pains that makes this a good read for teens and adults alike.

I think the pace of the book was also amazing, and it really made me connect deeply with all the characters and everyone's correlating relationships with one another. I sobbed several times during reading because of this. Definitely will be interested in reading more from Morgan Matson after this one.