This is the book for the reader who’s ever watched a friend disappear into a relationship and couldn’t find the words to explain what was wrong.
A Second Chance follows Mikaila and Chara, best friends whose bond starts to fracture when Asa enters the picture. He’s not loud about it. He doesn’t storm in. He works quietly, and Frend tracks the process with a precision that feels uncomfortably familiar. The moment that lands hardest: “I realized he didn’t like me. He liked the control he had over me.” That’s the kind of sentence that makes you set the book down for a second.
Frend sets the story across Maryland and Connecticut beach towns — gorgeous backdrops that create a nice contrast against what’s quietly unraveling. The pacing is smart: dated chapters build suspense in a way that keeps you moving forward even when the emotional beats are asking you to slow down. Multiple perspectives give the story room to breathe, with Mikaila’s first-person voice doing the heaviest lifting.
What makes this different from a lot of YA dealing with similar territory is the faith thread woven through it. It’s not overbearing — it’s more like a compass the characters carry, not a sermon they deliver. And the father-daughter storylines running parallel to the central friendship give the book a warmth it earns honestly.
Asher Frend writes characters who try to do the right thing when it would be easier not to. That’s not a small thing to pull off. This one has picked up the Literary Titan Silver Award, the Christian Books Excellence Award, the Christ Lit Award, and is an Eric Hoffer Montaigne Medal finalist — recognition that reflects what the book actually does well.
Perfect for readers who loved Speak or The Way I Used to Be but want a story that leans toward hope without feeling naive about how hard the path there actually is.
Get your copy: A Second Chance on Amazon
What reviewers are saying:
“I realized he didn’t like me. He liked the control he had over me.” — US Review of Books
About Asher Frend
ASHER FREND writes clean young adult fiction with a thread of faith, a sharp edge of suspense, and characters who are trying to do the right thing when it would be easier to walk away. Their stories blend coming-of-age pressure with real emotional stakes, then build toward hope without pretending life is simple. When Asher is not writing, they are usually spending time with their spouse and son and getting out for long walks to clear their head and untangle the next plot problem.