Summerhouse Time

"A fun breezy read, perfect for a preteen summer" -- School Library Journal

Spinelli, E., & Vriethoff, J. (2007). Summerhouse time. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

"Every year:
A rented pink cottage full of family,
sand and sun—
Summerhouse Time.
Morning trips to the donut shop,
fish fry dinners, swapping stories—
Summerhouse Time.
Mom and Dad, dancing on the beach.
Sophie and her cousins, riding the waves.
Every year:
Summerhouse Time."

Every year Sophie's family takes the same summer vacation. This year, although they are at the same house with the same people, something feels different to Sophie. Her cousin will not talk to her, her dad seems distant, and her cat runs away. Through the short verse poetry, readers follow Sophie as she tries to turn her summer vacation around and bring back "summerhouse time."

Reading Level: Lexile N/A; Reading Level: 5.3
Suggested Delivery: Small group or independent read

Electronic Resources:

Poetry Tips: Summerhouse Time is written in a series of poems. Students may find it helpful to look at this website full of tips on writing poetry. There is a list of twenty hints that students can keep in mind when they are brainstorming topics for a poem or while they are actively writing them. It also discusses what to do if you are struggling with a poem. It suggests writing sentences about your topic as if you were writing a narrative. They can then cut out all unnecessary words, leaving only those with the most meaning. The site also has a list of important things to remember when writing poems. For example, a poem does not have to be too long, too serious or too funny. This website can be helpful for students because it introduces them to writing poetry. They can think about the information as they read the book.

Eileen Spinelli: This link will bring students to author Eileen Spinelli's website. They can click on links to bring them to various pages about her and her work. The homepage of the website looks like a collage with all of the covers to the books she has written. Students can click on a book cover to find out more information about that particular book. There are also links to poems, FAQs, and writing tips which students may find helpful.

Vocabulary: pneumonia, clatters, caravan

Reading Strategies:

• Before Reading: Have students analyze the text structure of Summerhouse Time. Discuss how it differs from a narrative. Why do they think the author chose to write the book in verse?
• During Reading: Students can fill out a graphic organizer comparing Sophie's previous summer vacations to this year's vacation.
• After Reading: Using the graphic organizer, students can create a voki from Sophie's point of view. They can discuss why this summer is different from previous summers. They can also say what they would have done to change the mood of the vacation and have more fun.

Inferential comprehension: If you were on vacation with Sophie's family, what would you have done to get everyone to have fun? Discuss what everyone was mad/sad about and how you would have helped them through it so that they could enjoy their vacation.