Other editions of book Secondhand Summer

Secondhand Summer begins in Ninilchik, a tiny Alaskan community where the Barger family fishes for salmon. The father's death forces a move from their homestead to an apartment in a poor section of Anchorage. Written in the first person and based on the author’s own experiences, the tale is about Sam, a fourteen-year-old boy who loved the homestead fishing life he left behind. Like most kids his age, his physical abilities and his imagination exceed his judgment and knowledge.The story focuses on the boy’s adventuresome adjustments to the big city, the loss of his father, and becoming a teenager. Sam’s new friends lead him on forays into vandalism, petty theft, and trespassing. An abandoned nightclub, which Sam and his friends take over as their “fort,” absorbs Sam’s attention and energy as an escape from an adult controlled world, but his time runs out when the teenagers take over. By the end of the summer, Sam loses his club, one of his new friends, and his idealism, leaving him feeling forever changed as he enters seventh grade, both wilder and wiser.

A coming-of-age story of loss, adventure, violence, and redemption Fourteen-year-old Sam Barger’s life changes forever when his father dies and his family is forced to move from a remote homestead and fishing camp to the busy city of Anchorage. Life in the big city hits Sam a little differently; suddenly he’s surrounded by cars and girls, poverty and diversity, and new places to explore. One day he and his new friends stumble upon an abandoned nightclub, and it fires up Sam’s imagination and leads him into dangers he never expected. Can he survive the wilds of Anchorage before the end of summer? Secondhand Summer is the gripping debut novel inspired by author Dan Walker’s own life and experiences.

Secondhand Summer begins in Ninilchik, a tiny Alaskan community where the Barger family fishes for salmon. The father's death forces a move from their homestead to an apartment in a poor section of Anchorage. Written in the first person and based on the author’s own experiences, the tale is about Sam, a fourteen-year-old boy who loved the homestead fishing life he left behind. Like most kids his age, his physical abilities and his imagination exceed his judgment and knowledge.The story focuses on the boy’s adventuresome adjustments to the big city, the loss of his father, and becoming a teenager. Sam’s new friends lead him on forays into vandalism, petty theft, and trespassing. An abandoned nightclub, which Sam and his friends take over as their “fort,” absorbs Sam’s attention and energy as an escape from an adult controlled world, but his time runs out when the teenagers take over. By the end of the summer, Sam loses his club, one of his new friends, and his idealism, leaving him feeling forever changed as he enters seventh grade, both wilder and wiser.