The Summer of Letting Go by Gae Polisner

I review a lot of books, a good portion of them young adult, almost all paranormal. One of the reasons is that during my childhood I found my escape in books. My room was lined with them and I didn't care where I got them; left overs from the library, the trash, or just someone giving me one.

My writing is all about escape hence the paranormal or Sci-fi theme. Gae Polisner's is not. In her books, The Pull of Gravity and The Summer of Letting Go, she tackles difficult issues with grace. In the Pull of Gravity, Polisner tackles Progeria, a horrific disease that turns young children old. In The Summer of Letting go, Polishner tackles grief.

This is a review of The Summer of Letting Go, a remarkable tale that tackles the challenge of grief in young and teenage children. With authority, I can say that grief is an issue most adults don't want to face much less want to discuss with young ones. Adults find the oddest way of hiding grief from children.  My mother chose to lock herself into her room, leaving me alone in the dark, beating on a door I couldn't get through. 

That doesn't make what she did bad, it just means she didn't know how to handle her own grief, much less my own. In The Summer of Letting Go, our heroine Frankie finds her own way, again, neither right or wrong, it is just her path, her thoughts, her feelings, that eventually heal her soul.

Blurb
Summer has begun, the beach beckons—and Francesca Schnell is going nowhere. Four years ago, Francesca’s little brother, Simon, drowned, and Francesca’s 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 his reincarnation. Knowing Frankie 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. 

Five Star Review

Fifteen year-old Frankie lives her life overwhelmed with guilt regarding the  death of her brother, Simon. She was babysitting when he was swept out to sea  and the grief the family encounters does not help Frankie deal with her own emotional issues.

At a swimming pool, a now fifteen year-old withdrawn Frankie meets a little boy who was born on the same day her brother died. She ponders whether or not this could be her Simon reincarnated, as the correlations  between the two are strange enough to tweak her interest. Once again she is  asked to baby-sit bringing up all her unresolved issues.

The ending is  one you expect. Frankie comes to terms with her life which is, after all, what  the book is about. Side tracks into her love life, like the crush she has on her  BFF boyfriend, add additional teenage angst and drama.

Facing such  difficulties at such a young age can be overwhelming, yet Polisner handles the  drama with competent hands. I lost my father when I was five and I know the  sorrow and guilt that follows even when it's not your fault. In The Summer of  Letting Go, I laughed and cried, reveling in Frankie's life journey so expertly  handle by Ms. Polisner. The novel is well
worth the price both emotionally and  financially.

Kudos to Gae Polisner for a work well done.

---