Summer in the City

June 1, 2012

Gr 3-5-In this sequel to Travels with My Family (2006) and On the Road Again (2008, both Groundwood), Charlie and Max won't be taking any exotic trips this year. Or so they think. When their parents announce that they will have a "stay-cation" in their hometown of Montreal, Charlie is disappointed. As it turns out, though, he has lots of adventures right in his own backyard, from a camp-out gone bust thanks to a frightened skunk, to surviving the storm of the century. Add the responsibility of watching over his pesky little brother, who has a penchant for wandering off when something new catches his eye, and Charlie finds that summer in the city is fun after all. Readers will be amused by his wiseacre remarks and wry view of the world. This title is suitable for those graduating from early readers to short chapter books, and it is a good summertime escape.-Roxanne Burg, Orange County Public Library, CA

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2012
After previous family vacations highlighted by encounters with alligators, revolutionaries and natural disasters (see Travels With My Family, 2006, for details) a "stay-cation" at home in Montreal sounds a trifle boring to Charlie. Not so, as it turns out--though most of the misadventures are a bit less hair-raising than before. True, a major storm does strand Charlie and his father in a stretch of sunken highway, and later on, he and his troublesome little brother Max take the wrong bus on a trip to the country. Still, most of the experiences during his post-sixth-grade summer run along the lines of agreeing to babysit a neighbor's goldfish (with the inevitable result), discovering the perils of walking several dogs at once and sharing a backyard campsite with a skunk. It's all agreeably capped by a surprise multigenerational birthday party in the nearby alley. Charlie relates his experiences in a bemused, almost self-deprecatory tone, and Gay's frequent fine-lined, loosely drawn illustrations mark all the high and low spots. An upbeat summer idyll likely to draw chuckles whether read alone or aloud. (Fiction. 10-12)

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May 1, 2012
Sixth grade is almost over, summer's approaching, and Charlie's parents haven't revealed the family's summer plans yet. What great adventure is in store? In the past, they've been caught in a revolution in Mexico, gotten sandblasted in the desert, ridden out hurricanes on the coast, and faced down hungry alligators in a swamp. As it turns out, times are a little hard this year, so Charlie and his younger brother Max will have a "stay-cation": they will have to make their own fun in their hometown of Montreal. And so they do, with each chapter relating adventures that inevitably become misadventures. The summer begins with relatively tame efforts -- rescuing cats, walking dogs, camping out in the backyard -- but escalates to dirty, tattooed Santas riding motorcycles; a thrilling rescue from a stranded car during the storm of the century; a goldfish named Jaws landing in the toilet; and a baseball game interrupted by medieval knights. Who needs trips abroad with so much happening right at home? With energy and enthusiasm, spelled out with many an exclamation point and with added black-and-white illustrations for visual appeal, Summer in the City continues the adventures related in previous novels Travels with My Family and On the Road Again! dean schneider

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2012
Times are a little hard this year, so sixth-grader Charlie and his younger brother Max will have a "stay-cation," making their own fun in their hometown of Montreal. With energy and enthusiasm, spelled out with many an exclamation point and with added illustrations for visual appeal, this book continues the adventures related in Travels with My Family and On the Road Again!

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)