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Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. HTML: YALSA 2007 Teens’ Top Ten "A breezy read." —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books “Fresh, fun and fabulous! Guaranteed NOT to ruin your summer vacation!” —Mari Mancusi, author of Boys that Bite How To Ruin a Summer Vacation Moshav? What’s a moshav? Is it “shopping mall” in Hebrew? I mean, from what Jessica was telling me, Israeli stores have the latest fashions from Europe. That black dress Jessica has is really awesome. I know I’d be selling out if I go to a mall with Ron (my biological father), but I keep thinking about all the great stuff I could bring back home. Unfortunately for 16-year-old Amy Nelson, “moshav” is not Hebrew for “shopping mall.” Not even close. Think goats, not Gucci. Going to Israel with her estranged Israeli father is the last thing Amy wants to do this summer. She’s got a serious grudge against her dad for showing up so rarely in her life. Now he’s dragging her to a war zone to meet a family she’s never known, where she’ll probably be drafted into the army. At the very least, she’ll be stuck in a house with no AC and only one bathroom for seven people all summer—no best friend, no boyfriend, no shopping, no cell phone… Goodbye pride—hello Israel..… (more)
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Amy isn't quite as shallow as she seems,
It took a while for me to come to love Amy's new friends and her love interest, but it was meant to be that way. I learned a lot about the cultural differences and how that effects the way we view each other. It was this huge source of tension between Amy and those her age in Israel and it was a hurdle they all had to go over together. By the end, I loved all of them, though.
But this story?
I loved the setting, so different from most YA, and the fact it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows and happiness and there were a lot of dark spots to what seems so shallow. It was real and honest and well researched and just lskfgnhshngjwngsa And the romance? Oy. To. The. Vey. So much adorable.
But really, what else would you expect from Simone Elkeles? She tells stories so, so well. I wasn't crazy in love with her Perfect Chemistry series (I have no intention of picking up book 3 since book 2 was a let down for me), but she knows how to write a damn good story.
Basically, I think this is Simone's under appreciated series and it deserves SO MUCH MORE ATTENTION. All three books are out, you might even be able to score the bind up, and if not they're all in paperback and pretty easy to find on the internet. GO NOW AND BUYZ. These are the perfect reads to go with the warm weather! Or...any weather really! JUST BUY AND READ PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.
Ok, let's start from the beginning. The protagonist Amy is one of the most annoying characters I've ever encountered in a book. And I mean it. Her head is a hollow space filled with crazy thoughts, constantly triggered by
There is something missing in this story, and it's missing really bad. So bad, that I caught myself asking: Was Simone Elkeles in some kind of a hurry while writing this book? Was she rushing things so much that she missed some obviously important parts of the storyline? To put it simple--things happened. But how, that I cannot say. Why? Because the most important stuff was never written.
Nevertheless, this book actually made me laugh a couple of times (and quite frankly I'm feeling generous tonight), so I'm giving it 2 stars. Although I'm not sure if I'll read the other two books of the series or any other of Simone Elkeles' books, for that matter.
Anyhow,
By the way, Avi is not a very popular name for kids in Israel. You'll find plenty grownups with this name, but not many teenagers. I wonder if she chose that name because it's easier to pronounce in English but still has that obvious Israeli sound to it?