The Unsaid Summer by Josef Lemoine

In 90s California there is no hotter star in pop culture than Brad Pitt. And Bradley Pitt—a Filipino-American teen who shares the star’s name while growing up in Los Angeles—could not feel more different from the handsome actor that exudes confidence and charisma, which are two qualities Bradley is sure he lacks. As Bradley deals with the complex emotions of life, his therapist instructs him to write letters to his best friend, Sammie. Through these letters, Bradley unveils all that happened the summer that his whole world was changed. How far out of Bradley’s comfort zone was he willing to step? What did he do when he realized who he truly loved, but maybe a moment too late? And when it all came down to what hadn’t been said that summer, did Bradley take the easy path or was he too afraid to face the fear of rejection? The Unsaid Summer is a bittersweet, literary, coming-of-age story permeated with Bradley’s raw sense of longing for acceptance: acceptance from the girl he has a crush on, acceptance from his parents, and mostly—as a young man that often feels as though he doesn’t fit amongst his peers and in society—acceptance from himself. With a cast of remarkably crafted, wonderfully diverse, and memorable characters, The Unsaid Summer takes readers on a nostalgic ride of love, self-discovery, and heartache as the reader learns all that Bradley left unsaid that summer.