The Summer of Letting Go - Hardcover

Polisner, Gae

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1616202564 ISBN 13: 9781616202569

Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers, 2014

Synopsis

Just when everything seems to be going wrong, hope―and love―can appear in the most unexpected places.

Summer has begun, the beach beckons―and Francesca Schnell is going nowhere. Four years ago, Francesca’s little brother, Simon, drowned, and Francesca’s the one who should have been watching. Now Francesca is about to turn sixteen, but guilt keeps her stuck in the past. Meanwhile, her best friend, Lisette, is moving on―most recently with the boy Francesca wants but can’t have. At loose ends, Francesca trails her father, who may be having an affair, to the local country club. There she meets four-year-old Frankie Sky, a little boy who bears an almost eerie resemblance to Simon, and Francesca begins to wonder if it’s possible Frankie could be his reincarnation. Knowing Frankie leads Francesca to places she thought she’d never dare to go―and it begins to seem possible to forgive herself, grow up, and even fall in love, whether or not she solves the riddle of Frankie Sky. 

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Just when everything seems to be going wrong, hope—and love—can appear in the most unexpected places.

The little boy takes a step closer. “Hey, I Frankie, too. Frankie Schyler. But Schyler is hard, so you can say Frankie Sky.” He beams up at me, his blond curls blaz-ing in the sun. And that’s when I see it, how very much he looks like my dead brother, Simon. “Because,” he says, “Simon is just like the sky.”

Everything goes silent. The air disappears, presses in heavy, like a vacuum seal.

“Right?” he repeats, eyes fixed on mine. “Because Schyler sounds just like the sky?”

He’s fixed it now, but I know what I heard. Clear as day, he had said, “Simon is just like the sky.”
He waits for me to say something, but I can’t get the words to come out. All I can do is stare back at him.

It’s as if I am looking at Simon.

“A beautiful story of heartbreak and hope.” —Daisy Whitney, author of The Mockingbirds and Starry Nights

“The Summer of Letting Go is haunting, heart-lifting, and impossible to put down . . . Francesca Schnell is one of the most authentic young adult characters I’ve read in a long time.” —A. S. King, author of Reality Boy, Ask the Passengers, and Please Ignore Vera Dietz

From the Inside Flap:

Summer has begun, the beach beckons . . .

. . . but Francesca Schnell is going nowhere. Four years ago, Francesca’s little brother, Simon, drowned, and Francesca was the one who should have been watching. Now Francesca is about to turn sixteen, but guilt keeps her stuck in the past. Meanwhile, her best friend, Lisette, is moving on—most recently with the boy Francesca wants but can’t have. At loose ends, Francesca trails her father, who may be having an affair, to the local country club. There she meets four-year-old Frankie Sky, a little boy who bears an almost eerie resemblance to Simon, and Francesca begins to wonder if it’s possible Frankie could be Simon’s reincarnation. Their surprising friendship leads Francesca to places she thought she’d never dare to go—and it begins to seem possible to forgive herself, grow up, and even fall in love, whether or not she solves the riddle of Frankie Sky.

About this edition

• Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1616202564
• ISBN 13: 9781616202569
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320