My Especially Weird Week with Tess
THE TIMES CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE WEEK
-
- $4.99
-
- $4.99
Publisher Description
From the bestselling author of Talking to Alaska comes a hilarious, heart-warming summer adventure. For fans of Ross Welford and Helen Rutter.
THE TIMES CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE WEEK
'This funny, award-winning novel by Dutch writer Woltz is original and touching — and has two wonderfully memorable characters…’ Sally Morris, Daily Mail
It’s the first day of the holidays and Sam is roaming the island of Texel, imagining what it’d feel like to be the last person on earth. Then, like a whirlwind, 12-year-old islander Tess swoops into his life. Sam’s only option is to go along for the ride.
Soon he’s dancing the waltz, burying a pet canary and coming up with an especially weird plan to help Tess find her father, who doesn’t even know she exists. Along the way, Sam discovers the true meaning of family and what it is to be alive. One thing’s for sure – this is a holiday he’ll never forget.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
On the first day of his family vacation on Texel Island, 11-year-old Sam meets 12-year-old local Tess, who becomes his intrepid and immediate confidante. Tess is privately grappling with her own stressors; her single mother has shared very little about Tess's father over the years, so Tess takes matters into her own hands by not only finding out who her dad is, but successfully luring him and his girlfriend to the island by pretending they won a free week at Tess's mom's vacation cottage. Keeping her true identity secret, Tess poses as an unrelated, curious tween and slowly connects with her dad. Sam, meanwhile, wrestles with an increasingly prevalent fear of a loved one's death and attempts to prepare himself for the eventuality by spending less time with family. Tess's conflicted feelings about her father and Sam's preoccupation with death's realities are deftly handled, and Sam's relationships with his family, particularly his brother, are realistically flawed and filled with love. Brisk pacing and a fully realized setting by Woltz (Talking to Alaska) paired with animated illustrations by Dean round out this fervent story of friendship and family. Characters read as white. Ages 10–14.
