Somebody Else's Summer

by Jean Little

Samantha and Alexis meet on the plane as they travel from Vancouver to Toronto to begin their summer vacations, and decide to switch places as they'd each rather be at the other's destination.

Genres: Fiction, Childrens, Middle Grade, Canada, Young Readers

192 pages, Hardcover

First published May 5, 2006

About the author

Jean Little is a Canadian author, born in Taiwan. Her work has mainly consisted of children's literature, but she has also written two autobiographies: Little by Little and Stars Come Out Within. Little has been partially blind since birth as a result of scars on her cornea and is frequently accompanied by a guide dog.

Reviews

[Ankur · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an easy read, I just didn't like it. I know I'm not the target audience (this being a kids book) but I've read other wonderful books for kids and this just did not meet the mark for me.

It felt like the author had a great concept and knew how to start the book and how to end it. In between, it felt like the story was being made up as it went along, with random asides moving the plot forward (how do you know where the hospital is? Oh we took Bethany there for her candy striping work). It'd be nice to have seen that actually happen. Instead we got the beginning "six weeks later", and the rest of the plot leading to the ending. The whole story with all the birds seemed to come out of nowhere and dominate the last half of the book, though it did lead to a wonderful ending.

I wouldn't recommend this book.

[Jayden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, I'm pretty sure that if you've seen or read The Parent Trap, you'd love this book. It's like The Parent Trap a lot except, the girls who meet, aren't sisters. So I've seen the movie The Parent Trap soooo I obviously liked the book! Lol! The girls names are "Alice" (it's actually Alex but there's a boy in the book named Thomas who knows how to say Alex but wants to call her Alice!)and Samantha(they mostly call her Sam in the book). So one of the girls loves reading and the other one doesn't and one of the girls is going somewhere where the people work at a book shop. One of the girls wants to go horseback riding but her parents can't afford it and one of the girls is going to a horse camp where they learn how to ride horses. So they switch up. So the girl who loves reading isn't going to the horse camp, she's going where the other girl is supposed to be going: to the people that own a book shop. And the girl who was supposed to go to the people who own a books shop, is now going to the horseback riding camp thing. I got pretty confused during the book but the story was still very well written and in general very good storyline and story. I suggest this book to, well andyone who likes or loves The Parent Trap.

[Aja · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this book!

I recently finished this book after I won it in a class activity and I don’t regret reading it.

The main characters Alex and Sam get along so well even though they have very different personalities. I personally relate to Sam the most.

This book reminds me of the movie ‘The Parent Trap’—one of my favourite movies—in how they are switching lives to benefit from it. They even mention ‘The Parent Trap’!

I love how the perspective of the story switches from Alex and Sam so you can see from their eyes and how each of them deal with different situations.

I love all the plot twists and unique characters, eg. tension between Alex’s father and mother.

This book was an emotional roller coaster and I hope to find another book that I live as much as this one.

[Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

"If somebody calls out 'Alex' tomorrow, Sam wondered, will I turn my head?"

[Farrah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book! It made me laugh and cry. I started balling when mr Carr died. This book was absolutely amazing

[Amanda Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has always been a favorite of mine

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sam and Alex decide to switch places for the summer when they see that the other's living situation is more suited to them. Very cute with great secondary characters.

[Audrey Ettinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

A typical good story from Jean LIttle. Two girls meet on an airplane, each going to spend the summer with unknown family friends. Each girl realizes that she better matches the the plans for the other, and so they switch. Yes, the story depends on tremendous coincidences (the two families even know each other!), but this is observed with good humor, and the characters are worth understanding. Each girl shows more depth than expected (Sam likes books more than she realizes, and Alex can be brave to help her elderly new friend and to adopt a parrot), and they will each end the summer happier than they started (Sam appreciates her father and learns a little about her long-dead mother, and Alex won’t have to move to Australia with the mother and stepfather who don’t understand her, thanks to the appearance of her father who is conveniently now fully employed, delighted to take care of her, and also bought a parrot of his own!). I enjoyed it immensely on a lazy summer day.

[Cheryl Jensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't recall when as a child I was introduced to the Canadian author Jean Little, but I was fascinated by the fact that she was blind and could write books. So when I saw one of her books at a thrift store a short time ago, I grabbed it. In Somebody Else's Summer, two eleven-year-old girls meet on an airplane and discover each of them are being sent from British Columbia to Guelph Ontario to spend the summer with friends of their parents, due to family circumstances. Neither girl has met their host family, and neither likes their prospects. Alex is terrified by the expectation she will learn to ride horses, and Sam balks at the idea of helping in a bookstore, so they decide to switch places. It is a fun, simple read, and took me back to my childhood.

[T.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wise woman once said "Sometimes we mourn what we thought was going to be... but it actually wasn't going to be." About 2/3's of the way through this book, I felt a little disappointed, like this wasn't the story I thought I was going to get. I was expecting wacky hijinks. I was expecting tall tales and silly secrets. I was expecting the girl who likes books to at least have a bookstore adventure. (After all, the girl who likes horses gets to have a horseback riding adventure.) But I realized, what I got instead was a sensitive story about two unlikely friends and the pains of growing up. So sweet that by the end it left a tear in my eye.

[vienna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was very enjoyable, but it felt like a fluff book. There wasn't much to take home, except for saying it was entertaining. The characters were strong and very well described in the beginning, but near the end it was just 'Sam this' and 'Alex that'. But, I guess it was okay for a short book.

[Seema M. Fazil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished this last night, and really loved it.
My favorite character was Alex as I could relate to her a bit. Also, I enjoyed the book references.

[Fatou · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was okay but it was kind of confusing

[Téa Lacey]

I thought the book was great overall.... it was just a little confusing at times, that's all. sometimes i didn't know if the author was talking about Sam or Alex. It was really sad when the old man died. Alex was starting to get really close. My favourite part was when Mrs. Trueblood asked Sam if she was the "real" Sam.

[Kelsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reminds me of parent trap

[Sabrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story. Not a very original story. Starts out kind of slow. Couldn't finish reading. Had to return.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was very enjoyable. Some parts of the book were sad and some were happy - a good mix.

[Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great storyline and amazing characters! :)

[Sadie Landry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was not my fav

[happyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

cute children/youth novel!

i still love jean little, after all these years :)

[Alana · Rating 5 out of 5]

very very very good book !!

[Catfantastic · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was still delightful, but felt less coherent than most of her other work.