Review “The genre of sibling-loss fiction is two books richer… [Francesca] learns from Frankie Sky that it’s important to keep on living rather than going through the motions. This is really the emotional heart of the novel… Fran[cesca’s] outpouring resonates with real feeling. Here, Polisner gets her subject exactly right.” —The New York Times Book Review “A touching and beautiful story about life’s beautiful surprises.” —Justine magazine “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 “With a light, deft hand, Polisner gives Frankie’s world touches of humor, gravitas, and teen-centered reality, as well as multifaceted, sympathetic characters who seem plucked from any typical suburban street . . . [The Summer of Letting Go] deserves a spot beside the hammock.” —Booklist “Polisner’s delicate handling of such questions raises this novel above the pack of young-adult novels that deal with loss.” —Newsday “Gae Polisner brings joy and sadness to readers every time a page is turned . . . A beautiful novel about unlikely friendship that will put a smile on anyone's face.” —TeenReads.com “A beautiful story of heartbreak and hope.” —Daisy Whitney, author of The Mockingbirds and Starry Nights “A very realistic novel…truly able to capture the emotions of a teenage girl haunted by her past… The novel is great quick-read to read anytime of the year, which makes the soul long for summer and a time for change. I highly recommend to anyone who is interested in coping with tragedy and learning to love at the same time.” —Teen Ink “The prose is gentle but evocative, and Frankie Sky’s childlike exuberance and occasional misconceptions add heart and humor . . . [The Summer of Letting Go is] both hopeful and careful--like Francesca herself.” —Kirkus Reviews “The characters of the story are all very well drawn, the dialogue realistic, and the story itself well written, with much for teens to think and talk about.” —VOYA “First-rate realistic fiction with plenty of heart.” —School Library Journal Read more 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." Read more 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 andStarry 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 ofReality Boy, Ask the Passengers, and Please Ignore Vera Dietz Read more About the Author GAE POLISNER is the award-winning author of The Pull of Gravity. She is a family law mediator by trade but a writer by calling. She lives on Long Island with her husband and two sons. When she’s not writing, she can be found in a pool or, in warmer weather, in her wet suit in the open waters of Long Island Sound. The Summer of Letting Go is her second novel for teen readers. Read more
M**C
Beautifully written, heartfelt story.
Francesca "Beans" Schnell's world has been falling apart ever since her little brother drowned. Her father seems to be hiding something, her mother can't look her in the eye, her best friend is dating the boy of her dreams and worst of all, she hates herself as she feels she's to blame for her brother's death.While trailing her father trying to get to the bottom of his odd behavior, Francesca happens to meet Frankie Sky, a boy who bears an eerie resemblance to her dead brother. But it's more than that, there are also inexplicable coincidences that lead Beans to believe her brother's soul might be living in Frankie Sky.Gae Polisner's prose is like poetry. It reads as if every word of every sentence is handpicked with precision creating a perfect flow like ocean waves. This book was so evocative, I smiled, I cheered, I cried. Francesca's story is haunting, yet hopeful and every time a new twist of fate occurred, my heart stopped, waiting to see what it might mean. I loved learning about Saint Florian, Christmas Island crabs, and sand dollars. I loved seeing how throughout the book Francesca grew stronger and further away from that place in her past, and closer to letting go.I fell in love with the characters in this book. So many readers will be able to relate to those characters with that air of sadness about them -- when you feel so heavy inside, like you're drowning, but have to continue to move and stay afloat on the outside -- the Schnell's, Mrs. Schyler, Mrs. Merrill. Lisette is a perfect best friend, and lovely, and I love that she doesn't act like she's beautiful even though she clearly is. I adore Bradley's, quirkiness and even Peter's peculiarity.Then there is Frankie Sky. Gae has written him so well...I picture him in my head perfectly. His voice is adorable and I'm sure will stick with me for a long time. I wonder if Gae spent a lot of time around 4 year olds while writing this because it seems so spot on. And I love his spirit, the spirit of a young boy, full of energy and adventure who believes himself invincible.I read Gae's first book, The Pull of Gravity, and her writing is even better than before (and it was beautiful before) -- This story even more beautiful and heartfelt. If this is what we should expect from Ms. Polisner in the future, I'm in.This book will resonate with me for weeks, I can tell. It will make me take a closer look at the world, at chance occurrences, coincidences and karma. I try not to live in the past and to live life profoundly and passionately like Frankie Sky, but sometimes I still need reminders, as I'm sure we all do, and this book as given me one.Do yourself a favor and buy this book. You won't regret it.
S**R
Heartfelt
The Summer of Letting Go is a story of Francesca (“Frankie” and sometimes “Beans”), an almost sixteen-year-old girl laden with heavy burdens—the worst of which is the drowning death of her four-year-old brother, Simon under her apparent watch. Left alone on the beach while her parents sleep on a blanket in the sun, Frankie is distracted for a moment while Simon is washed out to sea. The grief and guilt her parents experience is nothing compared to Frankie’s.How can Frankie bare to love herself or let anyone else love her when she has allowed to let her brother die?Frankie meets the four-year-old Frankie Sky as he plunges to the bottom of the country club pool. He reminds her of her brother.From chapter 3: “I watch, frozen, as his blond curls float upward while the rest of him plummets down. Bubbles escape his mouth, and his blue eyes blink up at me. The air turns thick and dark, and a thousand panicked memories skitter like water bugs across the sun-bleached landscape of my brain. A bright summer day. The sparkling water. Simon, and the sand castle, and the waves.”The Summer Of Letting Go is Teen level Young Adult Fiction novel that touched my emotions with beautiful prose—even if I am 71!
L**R
Can Francesca’s new friend Frankie help her heal from the loss of her little brother?
Frankie and Frankie. Two completely different Frankie’s, opposites in every way. Little Frankie Sky is full of life, energy, and fearlessness. Frankie Schnell, on the other hand, is a teenager filled with remorse, guilt, and sorrow. What happens when these two meet is a journey toward peace, light, and letting go. This is a novel that will resonate with teens everywhere as it deals with typical teen issues of love and friendship, but also deeper issues of guilt and loss. It will also take adults on a journey of remembrance. Back to the days of summer, youth, first love, best friends, and our complicated relationships with our parents.I love all of Gae Polisner’s books, but Francesca is my favorite character of hers. She is so real, so honest, so vulnerable, so every teen girl I was, knew, and know. Her summer of letting go is not to be missed!
E**N
You won't want to finish this book as you'll miss the main character!
Summer of Letting Go has been one of my favorite reads of the year. More than anything, I appreciate the voice of this character and the way the story surprises at every turn, while feeling absolutely authentic. Francesca is an engaging, clever girl with close friends, yet is lost over the blame she feels over her brother's drowning while she built castles with him at the beach. How could you not feel to blame? Her best friend keeps reaching out to her -- but how can anyone understand how it feels to feel completely isolated from your mother (who has thrown herself into turning her brother's death into a cause) or her sweet but misdirected father, who she can't help worry is having an affair? Just at the point she feels at the crosshairs of wrong choices (falling for her best friend' boyfriend and breaking into the local country club to sleuth after her father) *someone* picks her out to be summer nanny for precocious toddler Frankie. Is it a cruel trick of nature or something more that has this little boy bearing such an uncanny resemblance to the beloved little brother she lost? Francesca is probably one of favorite teen voices, as she wrestles with questions of love, right and wrong, guilt and even the afterlife. She stands out as a humble heroine at a time when we could all use more strong and authentic female leads. Highly recommended as a gift, and recommended to readers 7th grade and up.
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