Jake

by Audrey Couloumbis

Overview

A heartwarming holiday story from Audrey Couloumbis, the Newbery Honor–winning author of Getting Near to Baby. With beautiful writing and an endearing young narrator so honest and full of hope that you can't help but fall in love with him, Audrey Couloumbis tells a story, of a young boy and the grandfather that he’s just getting to know, that will make readers laugh and cry and, most of all, appreciate the gift of family.

It's a few days before Christmas when ten-year-old Jake's mom breaks her leg, ending up in the hospital. For as long as Jake can remember, it's been just him and his mom. So with no one else to look after him, the hospital contacts the gruff granddad that Jake only knows through awkward twice-a-year phone calls. When Granddad shows up, he's nothing like Jake expected. And he brings a dog with him—a nightmare dog, Jake thinks at first. But as Jake gets to know his grandfather and a makeshift family of friends and neighbors comes together around him and his mom, he realizes that this might not be such a bad Christmas after all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780375893216
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	09/28/2010
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	176
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Audrey Couloumbis's first book for children, Getting Near to Baby, won the Newbery Honor in 2000. Audrey is also the author of several other highly acclaimed books for young readers, including The Misadventures of Maude March (which was named a Book Sense 76 Pick, a New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing Selection, and a National Parenting Publications Gold Award Winner), Love Me Tender (a Book Sense Summer 2008 Pick) and War Games, which she coauthored with her husband, Akila Couloumbis (a Junior Library Guild Selection). Audrey lives in upstate New York and Florida with her dog, Phoebe, and Phoebe's two pet parakeets, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.

Editorial Reviews

In a slice-of-life novel filled with warmth and quiet humor, Couloumbis (War Games) shows how 10-year-old Jake weathers unexpected difficulties during the holidays. A few days before Christmas, Jake is dreaming of getting his first bike when his widowed mother has an accident. She falls on the ice and has to be hospitalized for several days with a broken leg. Jake is worried about his mother, but even after he is convinced she will fully recover, there remains the problem of finding a caretaker for Jake during the interim. Having his grandfather come from North Carolina seems to be the only solution, but Granddad is practically a stranger, and the dog he brings with him isn’t “the friendly kind.” Jake’s gradual acceptance of his grandfather’s idiosyncrasies is touchingly portrayed, especially when it becomes apparent that some of Jake’s fondest memories of his father are really tied to his grandfather. With a comforting resolution that occurs just in time for Christmas, this book confirms that family boundaries are expandable and family love can overcome obstacles. Ages 8–12. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Gr 3–5—When 10-year-old Jake's mom slips on ice and breaks her leg a few days before Christmas, her hospital stay necessitates a holiday visit from the boy's paternal grandfather. Jake hasn't seen him and has barely spoken to him since Jake's dad died years earlier, and at first he is wary of Granddad and his unlikable little dog. The story of how they all come to appreciate one another is a simple one, relying on interesting characters and a young narrator who, perhaps because he has been raised among strong women, is punctilious about reporting his feelings and reactions to events, even when he doesn't really understand them. No high drama or overwrought emotions here, just some folks—and a dog—coming together as a family. Jake tells his story in a straightforward and often funny way that will resonate with young readers well beyond the holiday season.—Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library

School Library Journal

Ten-year-old Jake's holiday season gets off to an inauspicious start when his widowed mom slips on the ice in a mall parking lot before Christmas and has to be hospitalized. Shortly thereafter the paternal grandfather he hardly knows and little remembers comes to the rescue from out of town and into Jake's life. Potentially making matters worse is his grandfather's boon companion, the "nightmare dog" Max. Jake—and readers—need not fear, though. A warm, caring gem of an older next-door neighbor who has always been there for the family proves more nurturing than ever, and assorted family members and friends also leap into the fray to help with Jake's care. Gradually the gruff exterior of ex-Marine Granddad melts away, revealing the loving softie he's always been, and boy and grandfather—and dog—come to understand each other and bond. This is a sweet story, with the sort of kind, supportive people young readers should know in life as in literature. Narrator Jake's a good kid, though at times his self-awareness seems beyond his years. Pleasant and satisfying. (Fiction. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews