Growing up in Michigan, many of my friends took the same summer vacation every year, spending time with extended family on the shores of the Great Lakes. It always sounded like so much fun to be part of a big group like that, enjoying the same people and familiar vacation rituals year after year. Summerhouse Time invites us to come along for just such a getaway on a beach in New Jersey.
"Every year:
A rented pink cottage full of family,
sand and sun—
Summerhouse Time.
Morning trips to the donut shop,
fish fry dinners, swapping stories—
Summerhouse Time.
Mom and Dad, dancing on the beach.
Sophie and her cousins, riding the waves.
Every year:
Summerhouse Time."
Written in simple free verse, this story pulls you in quickly and entices you to keep turning the pages with just the right amount of suspense as we wait to see what happens with different characters and situations. It's astonishing how much emotion, character development and plot author Eileen Spinelli manages to pack into these short chapters! She brilliantly captures that slice of life where we want everything to remain the same, even though we, ourselves, are caught up in the inevitable tides of change.
It was difficult to decide whether this book is a Level 3 or 4, because although it is a fairly short book, the main character Sophie is 11 years old and has her first crush on a boy—consider it an easy-reading Level 4 book.
Comments