The Cold Heart of Summer

by Alan Gibbons

This book is suitable for reluctant readers of 13-16 with a reading age of eight years. It is printed on cream paper, which is proven to be more restful on the eye. The font is specially designed to encourage a smooth and easy read. There are frequent page breaks, short, headed chapters and illustrations on almost every page. A wide range of specialists, including children themselves, have read and commented on the book prior to publication.

Genres: Ghosts, Thriller, Psychology, Horror, Family, Crime

Paperback

First published August 1, 2002

About the author

Alan Gibbons is an author of children's books and a Blue Peter Book Award. He currently lives in Liverpool, England, where he used to teach in a primary school. His father was a farm laborer, but was hurt in an accident when Alan was eight years old. The family had to move to Crewe, Cheshire where Alan experienced bullying for the first time. He began to write for his pupils as a teacher, but never tried to get any of his work published.

Gibbons trained to be a teacher in his mid-thirties and starting writing short stories for his students. Later, he began to write professionally. In 2000, he won the Blue Peter Book Award in the category "The Book I Couldn't Put Down" category for Shadow of the Minotaur. He was a judge for the 2001 Blue Peter Book Awards. He was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal in 2001 and 2003 and shortlisted twice for the Booktrust Teenage Prize. He has also won the Leicester Book of the Year, the Stockport Book Award, the Angus Book Award, the Catalyst Award, the Birmingham Chills Award, the Salford Young Adult Book Award and the Salford Librarians' Special Award.

Reviews

[Cherelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

i wanted a quick read and i literally just picked this up off the shelf at the library and took it with me. It was a good little read i enjoyed finding out about the ghosts of the mansion i am glad i picked up a copy..

[John Lane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book it was a good read would read more by this author

[Jose Pena]

I recently read The Cold Heart Of Summer by Alan Gibbons. The book is about a Big old houses on the hill that is being haunted by old man Sexton. Debbie’s dad who is in charged of fixing the houses, but Debbie feels something bad about the houses. When she gets inside the houses its very cold and when she goes outside it hot. Debbie knows there something bad with the houses, Debbie has to warn his dad before something goes wrong.
The setting takes place in the grande a old houses that is being fixed up, the houses is a old dark houses that is so lonely.The main character in the story is Debbie. Debbie is the one who can see Sexton. The conflict in the book is that the house is being haunted by old sexton.He tries to hurt Debbie. “The look in his eyes softened. Forgive me, Debbie. I don’t know what came over me. There’s nothing to forgive,” she said” “You weren't the one trying to hurt me. It was someone else”
My opinion of the book is that its a great book to read. I recommend this book to people who like read scary book and its a interesting book to read.

[Emil · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cold heart of summer, by Alan Gibbons. This book is non-fiction.

The book is about a family who lives in a "haunted" house. The father of the girl is a builder and the girl is an ordinary school teenager. The whole "haunted" thing is that there was an evil murderer that lived in that house 50 years before them. But, nobody ever found the body of him and the person that he murdered. But his cane remained in the house. The house kept doing evil things, like when the girls dads friend was repairing the house on the outside, his ladder "mysteriously" fell. Also, the girl kept seeing spirits and hearing voices. You wouldn't want to live in that house.

It was a pretty interesting and mysterious book. Its pretty short though so I wouldn't recommend it to people over 10. I chose this book because it looked interesting but it is only 70 pages long so the plot is pretty short. But apart from that, it was a cool book to read. I would recommend this book to people from
7-10 and out of 10, I would rate this book a 7.

[Vicki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really quick read for me. It said on the cover dyslexia friendly and it was. The font was different to normal books and it made me take longer to read the words in the book. Therefore it forced me to take the words in properly. The story itself unfortunately was lacking. There was nothing really to it and I found it boring. Just because it caters to 13-16 year olds with a reading age of around eight doesn't mean it has to be boring! I have another similar book in my bag from the library but I might not read it based on this book.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up at the library as it was a quick read and the storyline had a creepy feeling and as it is coming up to halloween I thought why not! I liked the story is was a creepy read and quick at that. A creepy house gets me any time.

I didnt realise it was a dyslexia friendly book when I picked it up but I have to say I thought it didnt flow very well thoughout.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read on my lunch break, very easy reading nothing too hard to concentrate on in a busy canteen. Would recommend as a time filler