Bio: Sarah Ockler
Name: Sarah Ockler
'09 Book Title: TWENTY BOY SUMMER
Publisher: Little, Brown
Favorite Books: On the Road (Jack Kerouac), Catcher in the Rye (JD Salinger), Jitterbug Perfume (Tom Robbins), Diary of Anais Nin (Anais Nin), The Truth About Forever and Keeping the Moon (Sarah Dessen), Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Anne Brashares)... and a late entry, having just finished the book the other day, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (E. Lockhart).
Favorite Bit of Writing Advice: From Lee Gutkind, the "Godfather of Creative Nonfiction," after you've written your absolute best work, and you're sure it can't be any better, set it aside for a few weeks or months. Then, re-read it with fresh eyes. Is it still the best you can do? Are you sure?
Random Info About Me:
TWENTY BOY SUMMER Synopsis:
“Don’t worry, Anna. I’ll tell Frankie, okay?" Matt said. "Just let me think about the best way to do it.”
“Okay.”
“Promise me? Promise you won’t say anything?”
“Don’t worry.” I laughed. “It’s our secret, right?”
For sixteen-year-olds Anna Reiley and Frankie Perino, the ingredients for the “Absolute Best Summer Ever” are simple: Two girls. Two bikinis. And twenty days of minimally supervised California vacation. And the best part? According to Frankie, if they meet one boy every day, innocent Anna can choose a willing volunteer and finally ditch the albatross of her virginity.
Anna lightheartedly agrees to the game, but there’s something she hasn’t told her best friend about her lack of experience. Last year, before Frankie’s older brother Matt died, he and Anna's close friendship crossed into something much deeper--something that Matt wanted to tell Frankie about himself. Propelled into the role of supportive best friend by Matt’s sudden death and bound by her promise, Anna knew she couldn't tell Frankie about the love that she and Matt so briefly shared. So she buried her feelings-along with her broken heart-in the pages of her journal and swore off boys forever, afraid that getting close to someone new would erase the fading imprint of Matt’s kiss.
Now, along for the ride on the Perinos’ first vacation without Matt, Anna is haunted by memories of their relationship and her unresolved grief, resisting Frankie’s entire lineup of potential first-time flings. Then she meets Sam, a California local who stirs feelings in places she didn’t know existed, like a hundred hungry little flowers waking up and blooming in the sun after a long, harsh winter. As Anna’s crush deepens, she wonders if she'll ever get over Matt and longs to tell her best friend the truth. But when an intense fight with Frankie reveals painful secrets on both sides, Anna is forced to question their lifelong friendship, trust a boy she hardly knows, and face her truest fear-letting go.
'09 Book Title: TWENTY BOY SUMMER
Publisher: Little, Brown
Favorite Books: On the Road (Jack Kerouac), Catcher in the Rye (JD Salinger), Jitterbug Perfume (Tom Robbins), Diary of Anais Nin (Anais Nin), The Truth About Forever and Keeping the Moon (Sarah Dessen), Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Anne Brashares)... and a late entry, having just finished the book the other day, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (E. Lockhart).
Favorite Bit of Writing Advice: From Lee Gutkind, the "Godfather of Creative Nonfiction," after you've written your absolute best work, and you're sure it can't be any better, set it aside for a few weeks or months. Then, re-read it with fresh eyes. Is it still the best you can do? Are you sure?
Random Info About Me:
- I'm new to LJ. I keep a regular blog at SarahOckler.com
- I just moved back to New York City this month after a 5 year hiatus in Denver, CO, during which I experienced the mountains, the suburbs, and car ownership.
- Sometimes I dream in French, though I barely remember it from high school classes.
- I wrote and illustrated my first book at age 6--an "adaptation" on the movie E.T.--but my mom wouldn't let me publish it. She said it was copyright infringement! Sigh. I still have it, though. Maybe someday... :-)
- I write YA because I never really got over the torture of high school. I was never one of those "high school is the best time of my life" kind of girls--I skipped senior prom to go to the Grateful Dead show.
- Everyone I meet influences my writing. Sometimes this freaks people out. "You're not going to put me in that book, are you?"
- I'm trying to read 50 books this year--mostly YA with a few adult novels and classics mixed in. I'm only up to 8 so far--I have to double that by the end of the month.
- I hate watermelon and anything in the melon family. This fact ostracizes me at family picnics and baby showers alike.
- I love Bob Dylan and Method Man.
- I always get star-struck when I meet other authors.
TWENTY BOY SUMMER Synopsis:
“Don’t worry, Anna. I’ll tell Frankie, okay?" Matt said. "Just let me think about the best way to do it.”
“Okay.”
“Promise me? Promise you won’t say anything?”
“Don’t worry.” I laughed. “It’s our secret, right?”
For sixteen-year-olds Anna Reiley and Frankie Perino, the ingredients for the “Absolute Best Summer Ever” are simple: Two girls. Two bikinis. And twenty days of minimally supervised California vacation. And the best part? According to Frankie, if they meet one boy every day, innocent Anna can choose a willing volunteer and finally ditch the albatross of her virginity.
Anna lightheartedly agrees to the game, but there’s something she hasn’t told her best friend about her lack of experience. Last year, before Frankie’s older brother Matt died, he and Anna's close friendship crossed into something much deeper--something that Matt wanted to tell Frankie about himself. Propelled into the role of supportive best friend by Matt’s sudden death and bound by her promise, Anna knew she couldn't tell Frankie about the love that she and Matt so briefly shared. So she buried her feelings-along with her broken heart-in the pages of her journal and swore off boys forever, afraid that getting close to someone new would erase the fading imprint of Matt’s kiss.
Now, along for the ride on the Perinos’ first vacation without Matt, Anna is haunted by memories of their relationship and her unresolved grief, resisting Frankie’s entire lineup of potential first-time flings. Then she meets Sam, a California local who stirs feelings in places she didn’t know existed, like a hundred hungry little flowers waking up and blooming in the sun after a long, harsh winter. As Anna’s crush deepens, she wonders if she'll ever get over Matt and longs to tell her best friend the truth. But when an intense fight with Frankie reveals painful secrets on both sides, Anna is forced to question their lifelong friendship, trust a boy she hardly knows, and face her truest fear-letting go.