Second Chance Summer was one of my favorite books that I have read. The main character is Taylor Edwards and her family finds out that her dad has pancreatic cancer and only has three months left to live. They decide to spend their last summer together at their cabin in Lake Phoenix. They have not been back there in six years and during this summer Taylor gets a lot of second chances, hence the name Second Chance Summer. This book deals with all different kinds of life problems that everyone goes through at one point in their life. It talks about the death of a parent, love, broken hearts, endings and beginnings of friendships, and family life.
In Second Chance Summer, the reader does escape into another world, but it is a world just like the one we all experience and it goes through all of life’s challenges and obstacles, just through another person’s eyes.
I personally related to this book because when Taylor gets scared or does not know what to do she runs away, and similarly I just get away from people and want to be alone. Although, I do not relate to her in the way that she does not explain why she does the things she does, she just leaves. I also am not too scared to show my true emotions and to take a chance. Second Chance Summer talks about love, friendship, forgiveness, and fear. Forgiveness is hard and this book reflects both the views of the person being forgiven and the person willing to give that forgiveness. Fear is an emotion that we all learn at a very young age. Everyone has something that they are scared of, whether it is rollercoasters, sharks, or showing who we really are. Most people do not want to get hurt, and this fear is what stops us from taking chances. The fear of rejection is something everyone knows all too well, but we know that we can overcome it. Second Chance Summer helps show the reader that they can overcome their fears, and that most things people are scared of are the ones worth living for. We all experience different types of love at different stages in our lives: love of family, love of a friend, and being in love. In this manner, Second Chance Summer has a way of connecting with the audience and being able to relate to things that are important to us. Overall, I would recommend this book because everyone can relate to issues that Taylor has to learn to deal with and best of all there are no cliffhangers! This book gets a definite two thumbs up!