The Family Hitchcock

by Mark Levin, Jennifer Flackett

Overview

Finances are tight for theHitchcock family this year,which means no summervacation! But siblings Maddy andBenji are secretly delighted to escapethe annual torturous ritual of familybonding. Then Dad announces bignews: a cost-effective weeklong houseswap in Paris, trading places with aFrench family named the Vadims.

But instead of a relaxing Europeanvacation, it quickly becomes clearthat something is very off about thishouse swap. The facts about theVadims don’t quite add up. Thenthreatening characters start showingup, demanding a mysterious object.Soon the Hitchcocks are caught ina whirl of intrigue and running fortheir lives through the streets andover the rooftops of Paris, withouteven knowing why.

Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett,a Hollywood writer-director-producerteam, make their children’s bookdebut with this hilarious, actionpackedcaper.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062093288
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/17/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	293
Lexile:	580L (what's this?)
File size:	9 MB
Age Range:	1 - 12 Years

Editorial Reviews

Gr 4–6—This first novel relates the Hitchcocks' entertaining, albeit unlikely, vacation. When Mr. Hitchcock arranges a house swap, the family reluctantly goes to Paris while the suave Vadims come to the States. It quickly becomes apparent that the Hitchcocks have found themselves right in the middle of an international incident involving theft, secret formulas to end world hunger, kidnapping, and murder. Maddy, 13, cannot get along with her mother or younger brother, who is a genius, but the family must work through their personal issues in order to survive the summer; death is always lurking around the corner. The plot-driven story is preposterous fun with genuine touches of emotion about family dynamics. Fans of Polly Horvath's Everything on a Waffle (Farrar, 2001) should enjoy this comical romp.—B. Allison Gray, Goleta Public Library, CA

School Library Journal

Based on a planned film that Levin and Flackett, the husband-and-wife screenwriting team behind Nim's Island and Journey to the Center of the Earth, sold to production company New Regency in 2008, this caper, written by Elish (13), follows the Hitchcock family's tumultuous adventures after they swap houses with a Parisian family, the Vadims. The vacation gets off to a rocky start with seventh grader Maddy bitter about missing her crush's big party, certain that her parents are getting divorced, and butting heads with her mother ("still beautiful at age forty") and her fact-spouting, "boy genius" younger brother, Benji. After the Hitchcocks arrive in France, suspicious characters soon appear, threats loom, and the plot thickens when Maddy reads about a stolen object in Veronique Vadim's diary. The narrative focuses mainly on Maddy and Benji, but also gives insight into their parents' thoughts and motivations as the Hitchcocks use their individual strengths to get back to Chicago alive. Though fairly ordinary, it's an entertaining and high-energy story of mistaken identities and international intrigue. The ample suspense and feisty family dynamics ought to keep readers invested. Ages 9–up. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

An entertaining and high-energy story of mistaken identities and international intrigue. The ample suspense and feisty family dynamics ought to keep readers invested.” — Publishers Weekly

“Preposterous fun with genuine touches of emotion about family dynamics. Fans of Polly Horvath’s Everything on a Waffle should enjoy this comical romp.” — School Library Journal

From the Publisher