Summerhouse Time

by Eileen Spinelli, Joanne Lew-Vriethoff (Illustrator)

Overview

Every year a rented pink cottage full of family, swapping stories, and riding waves mean Summerhouse Time for Sophie. Best of all is sharing a room with her favorite cousin and laughing and trading secrets like two happy peas in a cousin pod. Sophie can't wait! But when she asks the now-a-teenager Colleen if she's looking forward to their time together, Colleen just says "I guess so."

What? It's the best time of the year, the time they both love. In just a little bit, they will all be together in the cottage on the beach. Will this year be just as wonderful, just like always?

Accompanied by charming black-and-white illustrations, classic growingup experiences radiate throughout the pages of this sunny, anytime story.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780375891786
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	04/14/2009
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	8 MB
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Eileen Spinelli is the acclaimed author of over 40 children's books. She lives in western Pennsylvania.

Joanne Lew-Vriethoff lives in the Netherlands.

Read an Excerpt

First Saturday in June

_Fifty-nine days to go.

I can't find my purple beach towel.

I can't even get to my closet

without walking across

a sea of dirty socks.

Mom pokes her head into my doorway,

says:

"Time to clean your room, Sophie."

And I have to admit

she's right.

And it's not that cleaning my room

is the worst thing to do.

It's just that there are so many other

better things to do,

like--

painting my toenails Strawberry Pink,

eating a huge stack of Uncle Joe's pancakes,

dreaming of riding the Ferris wheel,

thinking up a story to tell

around the campfire

on Scary Story Night,

painting shells,

riding waves_._._._

all the fun, wonderful,

sandy, sunny things we do

at Summerhouse Time.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 4-6 - Eleven-year-old Sophie can't wait for her family's annual vacation at the summerhouse on the beach. But this year, her favorite cousin isn't talking to her and won't come out of her room, her dad is mysteriously aloof, and her cat runs away. Writing in short free verse chapters entirely from Sophie's perspective, Spinelli has nonetheless created well-developed characters. The family dynamics are believable, even if a large extended family whose members all more or less get along and vacation together every year might seem idyllic to today's children. Readers will enjoy Sophie's first crush and her wise handling of her cousin's crisis. Spinelli even throws in a smattering of Italian (Sophie is learning the language because the object of her affections has an Italian name), and some arcane information about American history that will keep readers amused and allow them to impress their friends with their knowledge. This is a fun breezy read, perfect for a preteen summer.-Nancy Brown, Fox Lane High School, Bedford, NY

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School Library Journal

All year, Sophie eagerly anticipates the month of August, aka summerhouse time, when her extended family rents a house by the beach. Unfortunately, this year's vacation is not off to the best start. For one thing, 11-year-old Sophie is in love for the first time, and she is not exactly happy to be leaving her almost-boyfriend behind. Plus, her favorite cousin Colleen is barely speaking to her, her cousin Cooper is afraid to go into the water, some of her aunts and uncles are fighting and her cat, Orange, plays a disappearing trick. Finally, while Sophie can't quite put her finger on it, she knows that something is not quite right with her father. Nonetheless, summerhouse time is full of warmth and magic, ice cream and walks on the beach, so as the month unfolds, despite the turmoil-and sometimes because of it-there are many moments to savor. Sophie's humorous outlook, combined with Spinelli's lyrical blank prose, makes for a book that's as light and satisfying as a summer breeze. (Fiction. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews