If you’ve ever been on a vacation, you know that they don’t always go the way you expected. But in these books, things go catastrophically wrong, in one way or another. Sometimes it’s funny, sometimes it’s sad, sometimes it’s exciting…but it’s never boring! Check out this list of Vacations Gone Wrong.
Our Five Books feature is a booklist of five books (occasionally with a few extras) on a specific topic, with a short synopsis so you can decide if it sounds like something you would like. Mostly Middle Grade, with the occasional younger or older or graphic title thrown in for flavor.
Five Books–one old, one new, one popular with kids, one well-reviewed, and one staff favorite. (But you’ll have to guess which is which)!
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Just Harriet by Alana K. Arnold
There are a few things you should know about Harriet Wermer: She just finished third grade, She has a perfect cat named Matzo Ball, She doesn’t always tell the truth, She is very happy to be spending summer vacation away from home and her mom and dad and all the wonderful things she had been planning all year. Okay, maybe that last one isn’t entirely the truth. Of course, there’s nothing Harriet doesn’t like about Marble Island, the small island off the coast of California where her nanu runs a cozy little bed and breakfast. And nobody doesn’t love Moneypenny, Nanu’s old basset hound. But Harriet doesn’t like the fact that Dad made this decision without even asking her. When Harriet arrives on Marble Island, however, she discovers that it’s full of surprises, and even a mystery. One that seems to involve her Dad, back when he was a young boy living on Marble Island. One that Harriet is absolutely going to solve. And that’s the truth.
Shipwreck Island by S.A. Bodeen
Sarah Robinson is deeply troubled in the wake of her dad’s second marriage. She now has to deal with a new stepmom and two stepbrothers, Marco, who is her age, and Nacho, who’s younger. Even though they’ve all moved from Texas to California to start life as a new, blended family, none of the kids seem remotely happy about it. Sarah’s dad and stepmom then decide to take the whole family on a special vacation in order to break the ice and have everyone get to know one another. They’ll fly to Tahiti, charter a boat, and go sailing for a few days. It’ll be an adventure, right? Wrong. Dead wrong.
Wild Ride by Keith Calabrese
No parents. No rules. No curfew. Things are about to get dangerous… The grownups are out-of-town, and for Charley Decker that means one thing: a last epic weekend with her older brother Greg before he leaves for college. Bring on the burgers, milkshakes, and movie marathons! So when Greg ditches Charley for a date night downtown, she’s kind of crushed. Worse, he gets their mom’s boyfriend’s super-expensive, super-rare Mustang towed and needs Charley’s help to get it back. What’s an unsupervised seventh grader to do? Grab her best friends, sneak into the city, pull off the ultimate car heist, and then make Greg pay, of course! Only now the Mustang has a new feature in the trunk: a stowaway named Mitch who’s guarding a world-changing secret. And a pair of seriously big, seriously scary dudes are after him. What follows is an all-night race around the clock as Charley and her friends try to dodge the twin terrors, save Mitch, fix a sibling squabble…and get the Mustang home before morning!
Pippa Passes by Scott Corbett
On their way to a summer camp Meg and her sister, Lulie, bump into Pippa Phillips, a famous child movie star. Pippa, who is running away from an aunt and uncle who whe is convinced are exploiting her talents for their own profit. She begs Meg to help her. On the trip to camp, the girls devise an ingenious strategy to help Pippa. But soon the lies start piling up, and Pippa seems to want to grab the spotlight, even while she’s supposed to be hiding. Summer Camp is definitely not going as Meg had planned…
When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Peach Pie by Erin Soderberg Downing
Sweet summer has taken a rotten turn . . . After a tough year, Lucy, Freddy, and Herb Peach are ready for vacation. Lucy wants to read all of the books on the summer reading list. Freddy wants to work on his art projects (when he isn’t stuck in summer school). Herb wants to swim every day. Then their dad makes a big announcement: one of the inventions their mom came up with before she passed away has sold, and now they’re millionaires! But Dad has bigger plans than blowing the cash on fun stuff or investing it. He’s bought a used food truck. The Peaches are going to spend the summer traveling the country selling pies. It will be the Great Peach Experiment–a summer of bonding while living out one of Mom’s dreams. Summer plans, sunk. And there’s one more issue Dad’s neglected: none of them knows how to bake. . . .
The World Between Blinks by Amie Kaufman & Ryan Graudin
Whenever Jake and Marisol get together, adventure follows. They have their late Nana to thank for that. Her epic trips and treasure hunts were legendary. With the whole family reuniting for one last summer vacation at Nana’s home, the cousins are prepared for an extraordinary trip of their own. Following a map Nana left behind, Jake and Marisol sneak out to a nearby lighthouse–then accidentally slip into another world! The World Between Blinks is a magical place, where all sorts of lost things and people wind up. Everywhere they turn, the cousins find real mysteries from history and a few they thought were just myths, from pilot Amelia Earhart to the fabled city of Atlantis. But the man who holds the key to Jake and Marisol’s journey home doesn’t want to be found . . . and if the cousins don’t catch him fast, they could end up lost in this world forever.
Our Own Little Paradise by Marianne Kaurin
Could summer in your neighborhood turn out to be better than an exotic holiday overseas? Ina and her new neighbor Vilmer are about to find out… Ina has no plans for the summer. Suddenly, she finds herself lying in front of the entire class, telling them she is going to the Mediterranean for three weeks. And then the lie keeps growing and growing via social media. The only problem is that the new boy in class has moved to Ina’s neighborhood and he will easily find out that she is not in the Mediterranean. How can Ina convince Vilmer to keep her secret? Perhaps the best summer holiday is the one you thought would be the worst?
A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L’Engle
After a tumultuous year in New York City, the Austins are spending the summer on the small island where their grandfather lives. He’s very sick, and watching his condition deteriorate as the summer passes is almost more than Vicky can bear. To complicate matters, she finds herself as the center of attention for three very different boys. Zachary Grey, the troubled and reckless boy Vicky met last summer, wants her all to himself as he grieves the loss of his mother. Leo Rodney has been just a friend for years, but the tragic loss of his father causes him to turn to Vicky for comfort–and romance. And then there’s Adam Eddington. Adam is only asking Vicky to help with his research on dolphins. But Adam–and the dolphins–may just be what Vicky needs to get through this heartbreaking summer.
The Worry Week by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
It’s supposed to be the Best Summer Ever! Allegra, Minnow and Alice are spending the summer in Maine, at their regular vacation cottage, on an island. But then their parents have to go back to Boston for a funeral, and they’re going to be sent to stay with their mean (and old!) great-aunt. But when Allegra takes the call saying Great Aunt Ruth has broken her hip and can’t come, she doesn’t tell their parents. She thought it would be easy to just spend the week alone together. But she didn’t know her mother was going to throw out all the food! Surviving alone for a week is not going to be easy, especially when they have to hide from the neighbors. Allegra and her sisters scrounge for food and search for the treasure rumored to be hidden somewhere on the premises. Kids often imagine what their lives would be like if they were left on their own for even a short time. The three very different sisters in this story have just that kind of adventure for a week on an island in Maine.
Drive Me Crazy by Terra Elan McVoy
Lana and Cassie have met only once before, at the wedding of Lana’s Grandpa Howe and Cassie’s Grandma Tess two months ago. The two girls couldn’t be more different, and they didn’t exactly hit it off–but they’re about to spend an entire week together for their grandparents’ honeymoon, road-tripping from California to Maine in the backseat of a Subaru. It’s going to be a disaster. Told in alternating chapters between Cassie and Lana, Drive Me Crazy shows that even though friendship can be a bumpy road, it just might change your life for the better.
This is All Your Fault, Cassie Parker by Terra Elan McVoy
Fiona and Cassie are best friends for life. No one else can make Fiona laugh like Cassie can, and that meant everything when Fiona’s parents were divorcing. They love each other in spite of their (many) differences, and even though Cassie cares a little too much about being popular, Fiona can’t imagine life without her. Until Fiona’s diary is stolen at school, and everything changes. It’s a middle schooler’s worst nightmare come true: not only is Fiona’s diary taken, but it’s read out loud on the bus by the popular kids that day. Even worse: Cassie was there, and she didn’t do anything to stop them. And for some reason, now she’s ignoring Fiona. Suddenly the whole world has shifted. Life without a best friend is confusing, scary, and maybe impossible. But as Fiona navigates a summer of big changes, she learns more about herself–and friendship–than she ever thought possible.
Summer of the Gypsy Moths by Sara Pennypacker
Stella misses her (unreliable) mom, but she loves it at great-aunt Louise’s house. Louise lives on Cape Cod, where Stella hopes her mom will someday come and settle down. The only problem? Angel, the foster kid Louise has taken in. The two girls live together but there’s no way they’ll ever be friends. Then Louise suddenly passes away one morning–and Stella and Angel decide not to tell anyone. Now they have to depend on each other for survival. Now they are forced to trust each other with the biggest secret ever. This is the story of two very different girls who unexpectedly become each other’s true family.
To Night Owl, From Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Avery Bloom, who’s bookish, intense, and afraid of many things, particularly deep water, lives in New York City. Bett Devlin, who’s fearless, outgoing, and loves all animals as well as the ocean, lives in California. What they have in common is that they are both twelve, and are both being raised by single dads. When their dads fall in love, Bett and Avery are sent, against their will, to the same sleepaway camp. Their dads hope that they will find common ground and become friends–and possibly, one day, even sisters. But things soon go off the rails for the girls (and for their dads too), and they find themselves on a summer adventure that neither of them could have predicted. Now that they can’t imagine life without each other, will Bett and Avery (who sometimes call themselves Night Owl and Dogfish) figure out a way to be a family?
Once Upon a Cruise by Anna Staniszewski
Ainsley never wanted to spend her summer on a fairy tale cruise–especially since, instead of lounging by the pool, she’s running around the ship doing favor after favor for her cruise director mom. Things aren’t all bad–it’s good to see her mom acting confident again after the divorce, and she’s learning a lot about obscure German fairy tales and how to fold towels into entertaining shapes for little kids (um, yay?). There’s also a guy who’s super cute, even in a dorky dwarf costume–if only Ainsley could get Prince Handsome to stop babbling about himself long enough for her to say more than ‘hi’ to the cute dwarf! But once the cruise starts, things start to go wrong: the laundry turns pink, the kitchen runs out of food, the guy playing the Pig King is always in Ainsley’s hair, and her mom expects her to be in a hundred places all at once. Is this fairy tale cruise under a wicked curse? Or can Ainsley stand up for herself and make the cruise end happily ever after?
Room to Dream by Kelly Yang
Mia Tang is going for her dreams! After years of hard work, Mia Tang finally gets to go on vacation with her family — to China! A total dream come true! Mia can’t wait to see all her cousins and grandparents again, especially her cousin Shen. As she roams around Beijing, witnessing some of the big changes China’s going through, Mia thinks about the changes in her own life, like . . .1)Lupe’s taking classes at the high school! And Mia’s own plans to be a big writer are . . . stuck. 2)Something happened with Jason and Mia has no idea what to do about it. 3)New buildings are popping up all around the motel, and small businesses are disappearing. Can the Calivista survive? Buckle up! Mia is more determined than ever to get through the turbulence, now that she finally has . . . room to dream!
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So…how is your vacation going? Better than the ones above, I hope!
This turned out to be a longer “5 Books” than usual! I guess vacations just have a habit of not going the way they’re supposed to…
If you need help finding these, or any other books at the Library, just ask one of our Librarians. We’re always happy to match readers with their next favorite book! (And if you’re going on vacation, try reading a book about the place you’re going. Always fun to see things through a different lens!)
Happy Reading!
::Kelly::
In this book, Princess Emma, an aspiring witch from the kingdom of Greater Greensward, is persuaded into kissing a frog who claims to be Prince Eadric of Upper Montevista.
Ghosts is about a girl who moves to Southern California because her sister needs to be more healthy. The girl’s name is Cat and her sister’s name is Maya. Maya has a hard time breathing. When the two sisters meet ghosts, they swarm around Maya and she had to go to the hospital. She stays in the hospital for a while but then gets better. She has always loved ghosts and Cat introduces a nice and friendly ghost and they play together!! Although Maya has a hard time breathing they have a lot of fun together! I like this book because the author keeps me interested!
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