Second Chance Summer

P
RAISE FOR
M
ORGAN
M
ATSON’S

Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour

“This is an incredible book—heartbreakingly funny and utterly un-put-down-able.”
—Lauren Myracle,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Thirteen
and
ttyl

“One of the most touching, irresistible, and feel-good road trips
I’ve been on in a long, long while.
Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour
is a book to love.”
—Deb Caletti, National Book Award finalist

“A near perfect summer read that should leave
readers with a thirst for travel and romance.”
—
Publishers Weekly
, starred review

“This entertaining and thoughtful summertime road trip serves up slices of
America with a big scoop of romance on the side.”—
Kirkus Reviews

“If all road trips were like this, nobody’d ever stay home.”
—
BCCB

Sandwiched between two exceptional siblings,
Taylor Edwards never felt like she stood out—except for her history of running away when things get too complicated. Then her dad receives unexpected, terrible news, and the family makes the last-minute decision to spend the summer together in the cramped quarters at their old lake house.

Taylor hasn’t been to the summerhouse since she was twelve, and she definitely never planned on going back. Up at the lake she is confronted with people she thought she left behind, like her former best friend Lucy, and Henry Crosby, her first crush, who’s all grown up… and a lot cuter. Suddenly Taylor is surrounded by memories she’d rather leave in the past—but she can’t run away this time.

As the days lying on the beach pass into nights gazing at the stars, Taylor realizes she has a second chance—with friends, with family, maybe even with love. But she knows that once the summer ends, there is no way to recapture what she stands to lose. From Morgan Matson, the
PW
Flying Start author of
Amy & Roger’s
Epic Detour,
this is a remarkable new novel about hope in the face of heartbreaking grief.

A Junior Library Guild Selection

Morgan Matson
received her MFA in writing for children from the New School. She was named a
Publishers Weekly
Flying Start for her first book,
Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour
, and currently lives in Los Angeles. You can visit her at
morganmatson.com
.

Jacket design by Lucy Ruth Cummins
Jacket photograph of girl copyright © 2012 by Getty Images
Jacket photograph of lake copyright © 2012 by
Thinkstock.com
Simon & Schuster • New York

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second
chance
summer

Also by Morgan Matson
Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

www.SimonandSchuster.com

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2012 by Morgan Matson

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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.

Book design by Lucy Ruth Cummins

The text for this book is set in Adobe Caslon Pro.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Matson, Morgan.

Second chance summer / Morgan Matson.

p. cm.

Summary: Taylor Edwards’ family might not be the closest-knit—everyone is a little too busy and overscheduled—but for the most part, they get along just fine. Then Taylor’s dad gets devastating news, and her parents decide that the family will spend one last summer all together at their old lake house in the Pocono Mountains. Crammed into a place much smaller and more rustic than they are used to, they begin to get to know each other again. And Taylor discovers that the people she thought she had left behind haven’t actually gone anywhere. Her former best friend is still around, as is her first boyfriend… and he’s much cuter at seventeen than he was at twelve. As the summer progresses and the Edwards become more of a family, they’re more aware than ever that they’re battling a ticking clock. Sometimes, though, there is just enough time to get a second chance—with family, with friends, and with love.

ISBN 978-1-4169-9067-3 (hardback)

ISBN 978-1-4391-5752-7 (eBook)

[1. Interpersonal relations—Fiction. 2. Family life—Pennsylvania—Fiction. 3. Terminally ill—Fiction. 4. Love—Fiction. 5. Pocono Mountains (Pa.) —Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.M43151Sec 2012

[Fic]—dc23

2011052241

For Mom and Jason

Contents

Acknowledgments

Part 1: The Lake House

Chapter One

Chapter Two