MMGM- The Forget-Me-Not Summer

Back from the 8th grade D.C. trip, and I'm going to blame DAVE BARRY for the following events:

• Student lost his phone five minutes after we had book signed. Now know where Lost and Found is at American History Museum.

• Student threw up. At 1 a.m. Got to spend quality time with another chaperone, cleaning up. 

• A fire extinguisher exploded in our hotel 15 minutes before we were to load the buses, and we had to evacuate 150 students and stand in the parking lot. 

• I fan girled shamelessly because I wasn't prepared to meet DAVE BARRY. My students claim that jumping up and down might have been involved. 

• I gave in to peer pressure at about 12:30 a.m. The other teachers were Instagramming and wanted me to be on the top of their pyramid in the hotel lobby (which was under construction). I don't know why. I was too tired to ask!

Thanks, Mr. Barry! It wasn't The Worst Class Trip Ever, but I am definitely filing those events away in case I write my own middle grade novel.

This week, it's testing today, then just getting all of the books (which were due last Thursday) back in, shelved, and inventoried.

Let the hyperventilating begin!

It's Marvelous Middle Grade Monday at Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe and What Are You Reading? day at Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers. It's also Nonfiction Monday.


Howland, Leila. The Forget-Me-Not Summer
May 5th 2015 by HarperCollins
E ARC from Edelweiss Above the Treeline

Marigold's father is a screenwriter, and she's very excited that she might be getting a real agent, after appearing in a couple of episodes of a tv show. Zinnia, who is younger, thinks she might act as well, and she and her sister could bond over the shared activity-- but she's horrible. Much younger Lily is constantly annoying both of them. When the girls' father gets offered a chance to make a documentary deep in a forest, and their mother gets a job editing elsewhere, the girls are told that they will be spending the summer on Cape Cod with their great aunt Sunny. Marigold is devastated, and none of them are thrilled to go across the country to live in a dinky house with no good computer or cell phone reception, but they work their way into the community. Marigold even finds a cute boy, and Zinnia takes it upon herself to restart the town talent show, much to Marigold's consternation when she finds out that the director of a film for which she would like a part will be judging the contest.
Strengths: This is a fairly happy book; Aunt Sunny's grieving over her long deceased husband is offset by her new romance. Cape Cod is a rarified atmosphere that may intrigue many readers. Having an older aunt around to superintend is realistic. Good cover.
Weaknesses: The build up in California dragged on a bit, and all of the girls were vaguely annoying to me, especially with the acting.
What I really think: Middle schools students will probably enjoy this one more than I did, so I will buy a copy.