Tingling with bittersweet memories of her first love, Anna embarks with her best friend to meet twenty boys over the summer. But as Anna meets cute swimmer boys and bold surfer dudes, she just can't forget him. He, Matt, was Anna's first love, and also her best friend Frankie's older brother. From her recent birthday, Anna and Matt confessed and began their romance - but without telling Frankie. Suddenly, as quickly as the love began, Matt dies in a tragic car crash. Nobody wants to talk about him, but Anna still pines for him; she promises to never forget his name, his kiss everything. But as Anna seeks new love with Frankie halfheartedly, she grapples with telling the secret romance to Frankie, and feelings for a new guy in her life. 
 Twenty Boy Summer is so sad sometimes, I just have to look away. In the beginning, I really sympathize with Anna's heart - she's so broken up, so devastated over Matt and that she didn't tell Frankie. But at the same time she pretends to be the strong one while Frankie completely changes into a looks-obsessed teenager. Anna plays a double role, a face to herself that reflects her despair, as well as a face to the world, sad about her best friend's brother's death, yet willing to carry on. With such a facade amidst family meltdowns, Anna strikes me as a dutifully strong character. 
 She promised Matt not to tell Frankie about the relationship, and instead Matt would tell himself - alas he never had the chance. Such, creates the personal turmoil basis for Anna in the whole book. Anna struggles with letting go of the past and moving on - in some ways she's the weakest after Matt's death; she can't let go of him. 
 But new loves, new people and events cause Anna to consider her loss of reality. This book is about Anna's struggle to move on and overcome tragedy, even when it seems she's the only one that knows the truth. The only thing that kinda hindered this impact, was the way that Anna moved on. I thought that the Twenty Boy summer people and romance later on, seemed rather superfluous. I couldn't see the chemistry really and instead it seemed more like a solace or reflex to lean on a pillow for Anna when falling for a new guy. 
 Yet ultimately Twenty Boy Summer is actually an amazingly done debut novel. Ockler is masterful at portraying Anna's guilt, her pain, her struggles. Perhaps it's only at writing about facing challenges that Ockler's debut status hurts her novel. Yet the writing is absolutely heartfelt and touching. Ockler's anecdotes about Anna and Matt's relationship evoke the tenderness and pure love between them - too little and too late. The evanescence of first romance is where Ockler shines and where Twenty Boy Summer also shines.