Summerhouse Time (review)

From eleven-year-old Sophie's point of view, there is no greater time of year than Summerhouse Time, when the extended family all gathers in a rented pink cottage on the ocean for a few weeks of sun and fun. Spinelli's free-verse novel begins several weeks before this most anticipated event, introducing the characters, highlighting the preparations, and offering hints of the impending conflicts. At the top of Sophie's list of upcoming excitements is the chance to see her beloved older cousin Colleen and tell her about the boy who has caught Sophie's attention. Not all is as perfect as Sophie hopes, however: fourteen-year-old Colleen is distant and angry, opting to have her own room rather than share with Sophie, and Dad is not himself, prone to long periods of silence and to removing himself from the group. While these two conflicts are interwoven into the events (it turns out Colleen is bearing guilt because she stole some candy from the grocery store and that Dad is experiencing panic attacks), the story mostly focuses on the playful, summer-centered episodes of a big, noisy family gathered together. There is great appeal in Sophie's sweet young voice as she narrates the events that make Summerhouse Time what it is, and middle-grades readers will readily identify with her evocative descriptions of family dynamics. Lew-Vriethoff's expressive sketches are sprinkled throughout the text, offering further emotional exploration of the stories as they unfold. This would make a great end-of-year readaloud as well as a helpful back-to-school introduction to writing personal narrative.