Summer is stretching out in front of Nina as one long event, with not a lot going on to break it up. Her parents are super consumed with a big trail case they are preparing for, her older brother Matt is getting ready to head off to college by pulling further away, and her best friend and neighbor Jorie seems more different than ever. So what’s a girl to do?
Lying in the hammock in her family’s front yard, Nina sees a neighbor with a broken leg struggle to plant her flowers and then give up. She knows her neighbor always plants marigolds, but clearly she can’t with a broken leg. It is in that moment that Nina gets an idea. An idea that her grandmother, who died the year before, talked to her about many times. It’s the idea of Simple Truths (STs), that sometimes it’s the smallest things that end up meaning the most.
In that instant, Nina decides she will take each day that remains of summer, and do one small act of kindness for someone. She will focus on her neighborhood first.
The Summer I Saved the World in 65 Days by Michele Weber Hurwitz will have you cheering for Nina and hopeful for her neighborhood, her family and her friends. This is the kind of book you want to rush through, but when it ends, you are sad. Take time to enjoy this fun, poignant gem.
Recommended for grades 6th and up with appeal to much older students.
Books in the Middle: Reading for Middle School 