The Hot & Cold Summer [Hardcover]

Johanna Hurwitz (Author), Gail Owens (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

Poor Rory and Derek. just as the boys are looking forward to their best summer ever, they're ordered to play host to a girl, named Bolivia, visiting nearby. "You'll love her," parents and neighbors insist -- but the ten-year-old best friends know better. After all, nobody consulted them about making their twosome a threesome. So the boys unleash Rory's revenge: clever schemes to avoid meeting or speaking with their unwanted guest.
Sometimes, though, how you react to a new situation isn't quite the way you thought you were going to. Rory and Derek discover this -- and learn a few things about their own friendship, too -- during what turns out to be a most unpredictable summer.
With her unerring ability to humorously evoke children's concerns and quandaries, Johanna Hurwitz has created yet another story sure to be popular with young readers.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Johanna Hurwitz is the author of over five dozen books for young readers. She is the recipient of many state awards, including the Texas Bluebonnet Award, the Kentucky Bluegrass Award, and the Garden State Children's Choice Award. She lives in Great Neck, NY.

Johanna Hurwitz always knew she wanted to be a writer. She started by telling stories to her brother, who is six years her junior, and she's been making up stories ever since. Born and raised in New York City, she earned her B.A. degree from Queens College and went on to receive a master's in library science from Columbia University. She embarked on a career as a children's librarian, but she never forgot that one day she wanted to write books, too.

She worked at the New York Public Library and in a variety of other public and school library positions. She also taught graduate courses in children's literature and storytelling at Queens College. When she and her husband, Uri -- a college teacher and writer-and their children, Nomi and Beni, moved to Long Island, she continued her library work.

Although she had told original stories to her children, it was not until they were well along in school that Mrs. Hurwitz actually began to write down her stories. That's why, when children ask her how long it takes to write a book, she replies that her first, Busybody Nora, took her whole life.

But since then she has been writing with regularity, portraying with humor and sympathy the everyday incidents that are so important to children. She is particularly fond of seven- to nine-year-olds, because they are " so very open and get excited about small things," and she enjoys writing realistic fiction for and about them.

That these youngsters are equally fond of Mrs. Hurwitz's books is obvious. She has received many child-chosen state awards, including the Texas Bluebonnet Award, the Wyoming Indian Paintbrush Award, the Kentucky Bluegrass Award, the Garden State Children's Choice Award, the West Virginia Children's Book Award, and others.

In recent years, Johanna Hurwitz has crisscrossed the United States from Juneau, Alaska, to Jackson, Mississippi, and from San Diego, California, to St. Albans, Vermont. She has even spoken abroad, from Morocco to Mozambique and from Portugal to Nicaragua. On these trips she has met and spoken to schoolchildren, teachers, librarians, and parents. She has made many new friends and has often brought home new ideas for her next book.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (April 24, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688027466
• ISBN-13: 978-0688027469
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,484,297 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a favorite, December 17, 2004

By 

candy (ca) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hot and Cold Summer (Paperback)

I first read this book at the age of 11. I still love it. It never fails to crack me up, and have me laughing so hard, my husband thinks I'm losing my mind! I will always keep this book in my collection, and I will pass it on to my daughter, and hopefully it will be one of her favorite books. It a fun read, and it's a fun story, and ever since, I have wanted to have snowball fights in the middle of summer with vanilla ice cream!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Marvelous and laughable !!!!!!, December 13, 2001

By 

Cheh Carmen (Cheh Carmen,Malaysia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hot & Cold Summer (Hardcover)

I like this book from the first page.It is about two bosom buddies,Rory and Derek.They will never do things separately.No matter what happens,they will stick together.That's what I like to have-someone around my age who has the same interests and hobbies like me.But when their neighbour's great niece,Bolivia,comes to their neighbourhood,Rory and Derek swore not to talk to her and also to ignore her.Rory hates Bolivia from first sight but slowly,Derek begins to like her.Then,something that never happened to Derek and Rory happened-a quarrel.Derek decides to go to camp and Rory tries to avoid Derek and Bolivia.Rory slowly learns to like and adore Bolivia.They do a lot of things that Rory has never done like making snowballs with icecream.There are a lot of comical parts which will make you laugh like hell.I won't tell you the whole story.But I bet you will enjoy this book and make it your favourite book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hot and Cold Summer, October 31, 2001

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Hot and Cold Summer (Paperback)

I like this book. My favorite character is Bolivia, a girl who lives with her relatives because her parents are in Turkey. The reason I like Bolivia is because she is funny. For example, she dumped her drink all over Rory! (Derek and Rory are friends but do not like Bolivia.) I also like Bolivia's talking parrot named "Lucette". I like it when Lucette chases Rory all over the house. I also like their friendship. An especially good part was when Rory and Derek (They have know become friends with Bolivia) have a contest to see who can eat the most pizza! They tie 5 pieces each. At the end they have a surprise party for Bolivia because she is leaving. They all get tee-shirts that say "Bolivia More Than Another Country" It's a great book!