Summer at Meadow Wood

by Amy Rebecca Tan

Overview

From the author of A Kind of Paradise comes a beautiful and heartfelt middle grade novel for fans of Ali Standish and Sally J. Pla, about a girl who finds comfort in the warm traditions and unexpected friendships of summer camp.

Vic Brown did not want to go to camp this summer.

Even though it’s nice being back with her friends at Meadow Wood, Vic still can’t forget about the secret reason her mom wanted her and her brother out of the house—or how much her family is going to change. When her home life is blowing up, it can be hard to focus on campfires and canoeing.

But there is something about summer and surprises that go together like blueberry pancakes and maple syrup. And soon, Vic starts to feel like—just maybe—a summer at Meadow Wood was exactly what she needed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062795458
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	05/19/2020
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	1,062,300
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 1.21(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Amy Rebecca Tan is the author of A Kind of Paradise and Summer at Meadow Wood. She currently works in a public library and an independent bookstore. Amy lives in New Jersey with her family. You can visit her online at www.amyrebeccatan.com.

Editorial Reviews

2020-01-12
Eleanor Roosevelt and gardening both prove to be unexpected sources of inspiration for 13-year-old Vic, who finds herself reluctantly back at the summer camp she's attended for years after she learns her parents are having marriage difficulties.

Despite the friends Vic has made over the years at Meadow Wood, she'd hoped to spend a laid-back summer at home with her bestie, Jamie (whose story is told in A Kind of Paradise, 2019, which is not a prerequisite for this stand-alone), and is furious that she and her brother were shipped off as a matter of convenience for her mom. Slowly, with the help of her curmudgeonly but caring counselor Chieko, who is brooding over her own recent breakup with her girlfriend, and the mentoring of diligent camp co-director Earl, Vic begins to see a way through her struggles. If at times these worthwhile life lessons are a bit heavy-handed, many other elements in this warmhearted novel are likely to charm middle-grade readers, including the quirkily funny, brainy younger camper Vera whom Vic takes under her wing and a kind Latinx boy named Angel, who becomes a sweet first love interest when she meets him at the local farmers market. Vic and Vera are white, and there is some realistic ethnic diversity represented in secondary characters, conveyed both via description and naming convention (Chieko is likely of Japanese heritage, for instance).

A gentle novel perfect for middle graders looking for a summer read. (Fiction. 10-13)

Kirkus Reviews