Tails of Spring Break

by Anne Warren Smith

Everyone, it seems, is going somewhere fun for spring break-everyone except Katie Jordan and her family. Even her best friend, Sierra, is going to Hawaii! But then Katie realizes she's not the only one being left behind-what about all those poor lonely pets? And so Katie sets out to save her spring break with a pet-sitting business. But Katie hadn't bargained on having a business partner-especially not someone as awful as Claire Plummer! Before they know it, they have a moody cat, an excitable dog, and dozens of fish to look after together. But do the two girls have more in common than they realized?

76 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Tania · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was surprisingly touched by Tails of Spring Break. Yes morals are handed down in a very obvious way - be kind, be responsible, be organized, etc. It didn't get in the way of the emotional journey the book takes you on, though. The story is pretty straight forward. Katie Jordan's family isn't traveling for Spring Break, though everyone else is. She decides that if she has to stay home, she'll try something new: she volunteers to pet-sit for first one, and then many, friends and neighbors. A wrench is thrown into her plans when her frenemy Claire Plummer has to stay with her because of an illness in her family. As Katie and Claire attempt to coexist, and Katie's younger brother Tyler is in turns cute and annoying, and Mr. Jordan simply tries to enjoy a week off, it seems that everyone's spring break is ripe for disruption.

Katie resists any sort of camaraderie with Claire in the beginning, but that is of course bound to change. Why and how are the beautiful aspects of the story. Soon enough they have more than enough juggling to do with all of their pet-sitting commitments, and they even forget to disagree for a time. Their near-disasters almost send them over the edge, but all 3 kids are pretty tough, and in the end they show Mr. Jordan and the rest of the adults what they are made of. What a difference a week can make! I thoroughly enjoyed this story, and the growth of the characters.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tails of Spring Break is the second book in the series following fourth grade student Katie Jordan and her not-friend Claire Plummer. Katie and Claire believe they have nothing in common, but their dad’s think they should be friends because they both live on the same street and neither has a mother at home. Spring break is on the way and it seems like Katie is the only one who isn’t going anywhere fun. So, to make her spring break the best one yet she decides to start her very own pet sitting business… but perhaps she should have told her father first.
When Claire unexpectedly has to stay at the Jordan’s house over spring break, Katie not only has to share her room but also her pet sitting business. We watch as Katie learns how to get along with Claire and the different hijinks that ensue.
Overall, it was a fun little book. I think that it would be a great read for anyone in the 3rd through 6th grade reading age. Although the different things that Katie gets up to are not the typical hijinks that most students get into the book I is I feel an adequate representation of the types of feelings and emotions that a fourth grader might go through.

[Gil-or (readingbooksinisrael) · Rating 1 out of 5]

The child characters felt very unrealistic. Obviously, the author was trying to go for a moral (or a few) but it was ungainly and heavy-handed.

[Sara Bland · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of a young girl who finds it in herself to look past the differences she and another classmate have in order to find friendship and companionship. The pre-adolescent little girl is very upset that she is the only person in her whole class who is not going on a vacation for spring break. She starts to pout and feel sorry for herself until she comes up with the scheme to watch her friend's cat while they are out of town. Just as her spring break was about to kick off, she finds out that her worst enemy--Claire from across the street--is coming to stay with them due to an emergency. Over the next several days the two take on a lot of responsibility and find themselves in precarious situations. At the end of the week, the two feel quite different about one another and find themselves wondering why they hated each other in the first place at all. Great read, I would recommend this to middle school aged girls who might need some guidance in how to make new friends.

[Isah Ragondo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I honestly wish I could have as much fun as she had. I want to take care of animals tooo...

ANY WAY THE BOOK IS AMAZING... YOU SHOULD READ IT TOO...