Second Chance Summer is a wonderfully written, incredibly emotional story about a girl who spends her summer with her family, at their old summer home, after her father is given only a few months to live. By doing so, she is given the opportunity to reconnect with some friends she hurt in the past. I love stories that take place on the lake. They always remind me of summers as a kid. being on a lake or river always had such a special feeling, and that all comes back when I read stories like this. I also really love family centred stories, that focus on families coming together and growing stronger. Second Chance Summer focuses on a family who is brought together by a very unfortunate circumstance, but it shows that good can come out of even the worst times. I loved Taylor's relationship with her dad. While he was healthy, her dad had been a workaholic who didn't have much time with the family, but the two of them have always shared a very special bond. They are able to strengthen this relationship by spending more quality time together before he dies. I really enjoyed all of the puns thrown in that they tossed back and forth. My dad is big on puns and really awful jokes, and this is something that I seem to have inherited as well, so I loved to see that element in their relationship. In addition to the relationships she is strengthening with her family, she is also mending relationships with old friends. Henry, the boy she never got over, and Lucy, her best friend with whom she hasn't spoken in five years. I particularly liked the focus on her friendship with Lucy. Even though they have spent so much time not speaking to each other, they are able to move past that and be there for each other. That shows the strength of the friendship to begin with. Once they are able to move past the hurt, they fall back into things as if no time has been lost. That is a sign of a real friendship, and there are some really nice moments throughout the book that portray this really well. There are so many heartbreaking moments, as Taylor comes to terms with the fact that she is losing her father. The idea of having a limited amount of time left with a parent is such an awful thought, and you can feel the anxiety that comes along with it. Matson is able to write the situation, and portray the emotions so accurately. The end of this book is one of the most emotional I have ever read. There were moments where I was crying so hard I couldn't even read, so I had to take a minute to regain composure before continuing on. Second Chance Summer has all the elements that I love in a book; tears, family relationships, friendships, a great setting, and of course a nice romance. Books like this are the reason I love to read, and it is completely worth reading dozens of not so great stories in order to find the great ones like this. After reading Amy and Roger's Epic Detour, and now this, it is clear that Morgan Matson is an author to watch. I can't wait to see what she writes next! This review was originally posted at Along for the Read: http://www.alongfortheread.com/2012/05/review-second-chance-summer-by-morgan.html

Second Chance Summer is a wonderfully written, incredibly emotional story about a girl who spends her summer with her family, at their old summer home, after her father is given only a few months to live. By doing so, she is given the opportunity to reconnect with some friends she hurt in the past. I love stories that take place on the lake. They always remind me of summers as a kid. being on a lake or river always had such a special feeling, and that all comes back when I read stories like this. I also really love family centred stories, that focus on families coming together and growing stronger. Second Chance Summer focuses on a family who is brought together by a very unfortunate circumstance, but it shows that good can come out of even the worst times. I loved Taylor's relationship with her dad. While he was healthy, her dad had been a workaholic who didn't have much time with the family, but the two of them have always shared a very special bond. They are able to strengthen this relationship by spending more quality time together before he dies. I really enjoyed all of the puns thrown in that they tossed back and forth. My dad is big on puns and really awful jokes, and this is something that I seem to have inherited as well, so I loved to see that element in their relationship. In addition to the relationships she is strengthening with her family, she is also mending relationships with old friends. Henry, the boy she never got over, and Lucy, her best friend with whom she hasn't spoken in five years. I particularly liked the focus on her friendship with Lucy. Even though they have spent so much time not speaking to each other, they are able to move past that and be there for each other. That shows the strength of the friendship to begin with. Once they are able to move past the hurt, they fall back into things as if no time has been lost. That is a sign of a real friendship, and there are some really nice moments throughout the book that portray this really well. There are so many heartbreaking moments, as Taylor comes to terms with the fact that she is losing her father. The idea of having a limited amount of time left with a parent is such an awful thought, and you can feel the anxiety that comes along with it. Matson is able to write the situation, and portray the emotions so accurately. The end of this book is one of the most emotional I have ever read. There were moments where I was crying so hard I couldn't even read, so I had to take a minute to regain composure before continuing on. Second Chance Summer has all the elements that I love in a book; tears, family relationships, friendships, a great setting, and of course a nice romance. Books like this are the reason I love to read, and it is completely worth reading dozens of not so great stories in order to find the great ones like this. After reading Amy and Roger's Epic Detour, and now this, it is clear that Morgan Matson is an author to watch. I can't wait to see what she writes next! This review was originally posted at Along for the Read: http://www.alongfortheread.com/2012/05/review-second-chance-summer-by-morgan.html

3.75 stars Taylor has a habit of running away from her problems. As the middle child in a family with a genius for an older brother and a dance prodigy for a younger sister, Taylor is pretty ordinary. When her dad is diagnosed with cancer and given a few months to live, Taylor is forced to come to terms with a lot of things in her life and in herself. I enjoyed watching her learn things about herself and her family, and discovering it’s never too late for a second chance. While I had trouble connecting with most of the characters, I found them likeable. I particularly liked Warren, and thought his fact-spewing and awkwardness were hilarious. I also liked Taylor’s dad, and how he had a distinct personality for a secondary character. The interactions between him and Taylor were funny, sweet, and touching. As much as I liked this book, I didn’t love it the way I loved Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour. I know it’s not fair to compare the two, but I’m finding it hard since Amy & Roger is one of my favourite books. Second Chance Summer was lacking that special something that made me love it. I connected with every single character in Amy & Roger, even the secondary characters that we just met briefly. I didn’t get that with Second Chance Summer. I also thought it was a bit too long, and the pacing was kind of slow at times. On a personal note: as with my review for Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour, I’d like to take a minute to talk about how this book affected me on a personal level. After reading the synopsis for this book, I can tell you that if it had been written by any other author, I probably wouldn’t have read it. A father dying of cancer - way too close to home. And while that may sound ridiculous since I wrotea book about cancer, I tend to avoid reading them. We know from the beginning that Taylor’s dad is going to die, but I cried my eyes out when it happened. I was only ten when my dad died, and even though he had been sick for two years, he was getting better, so we didn’t know he was going to die the way Taylor’s family knew. I cried so hard in their last scene together, and then when she got the letters from him - I’d give anything to have letters from my dad. I have a vivid memory of crying to my mum before my dad died saying how he wouldn’t be at my grade eight, high school, and college graduations, or at my wedding or any of the other huge life milestones, so this particular part hit me hard. I felt like Matson handled the whole illness and death thing well, and the emotions rang true. Overall, Second Chance Summer was a good, emotional story about family, love, and taking advantage of second chances. I’d recommend it to those who enjoy contemporary young adult with a bit of emotional depth.

I had been hearing so many amazing things about Morgan Matson’s novel, Second Chance Summer — the follow up to her amazing novel, Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour — that I immediately put myself on the hold list when I saw my local library was getting it. Admittedly, I wasn’t going to read this one immediately because the hardback was such a beautiful book that I wanted a copy of it for my shelf, but I needed something that was really going to keep my interest so I dove in. I was not expecting to completely fall in love with this book! As it starts off, Taylor’s family isn’t very close, but her dad has been diagnosed with cancer with a time frame, so they go to the lake for the summer. I loved seeing the family get closer and closer as the summer goes by, as well as seeing how the family reacts to the changes in the father’s, Robin’s, demeanour as he succumbs to his disease. But the book isn’t all sad — it’s not just a book about losing a family member, but also a book about getting second chances. It’s been five years since Taylor’s family has even been to the lake and there were many loose ends after the last summer. We meet wonderful characters — Henry, Lucy, Elliot, as well as Murphy, the dog. I loved seeing all of the relationships as they evolved throughout the book — they were all touching, all heartbreaking, and all so believable. The only book that made me feel so many emotions was John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars. The only difference between that one and Second Chance Summer is that there’s definitely a lot more humour in Green’s book — BUT, even though there’s not a lot of wisecracking going on, there is so much of everything else. I honestly loved this book and would read it again and again. Despite the sadness that takes place, this is the perfect summer read. It made me want to sit on a dock, with my feet in the water, the sun on my face, the sand on my skin. It was all just so beautiful. Have lots of tissue when you read this one because I had about three major instances where I bawled like a baby! This book is a masterpiece. It was put together so perfectly and I finished it with a feeling of love and sadness. Morgan Matson has gone to the top of my list and I cannot wait until her next book is released.