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Overview
A hilarious new novel from the #1 NEW YORK TIMES best-selling author Dyan Sheldon! The summer her mother announces that they won't be taking their traditional holiday in France, sixteen-year-old Sophie Pitt-Turnbull is aghast and devastated. How can she possibly stay in London when all her friends are going away? The prospect is so ghastly that when Jacqueline Salamanca, Mummy's old art-school chum in New York, suggests they trade daughters for the summer, Sophie -- with visions of a loft in SoHo, weekends in the Hamptons, and shopping on Fifth Avenue -- feels her prayers have been answered. Unfortunately, there are a few small details that Mummy's neglected to tell her. Get ready for a comical case of culture clash when one haughty British teen winds up deep in the heart of working-class Brooklyn, cooped up in a chaotic household with two rowdy charges, an ill-trained cat, and an insatiably hungry pet pig. Dyan Sheldon is in her element with this outrageously funny tale of an uptight young girl who is forced to get over her preconceptions -- and dares to have herself a full-hearted adventure that's worth writing home about. Complete with a glossary of Britishisms in the back!Things turn out rather different from what she expected when Sophie Pitt-Turnbull takes a trip across the pond in this droll new novel by the author of CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE DRAMA QUEEN.While spending the summer in Brooklyn with her mother's former schoolmate, Sophie, a sheltered English teenager, makes new and unlikely friends and finds a new side to her formerly "dull and passive" personality.
Synopsis
A hilarious new novel from the #1 NEW YORK TIMES best-selling author Dyan Sheldon! The summer her mother announces that they won't be taking their traditional holiday in France, sixteen-year-old Sophie Pitt-Turnbull is aghast and devastated. How can she possibly stay in London when all her friends are going away? The prospect is so ghastly that when Jacqueline Salamanca, Mummy's old art-school chum in New York, suggests they trade daughters for the summer, Sophie -- with visions of a loft in SoHo, weekends in the Hamptons, and shopping on Fifth Avenue -- feels her prayers have been answered. Unfortunately, there are a few small details that Mummy's neglected to tell her.
Get ready for a comical case of culture clash when one haughty British teen winds up deep in the heart of working-class Brooklyn, cooped up in a chaotic household with two rowdy charges, an ill-trained cat, and an insatiably hungry pet pig. Dyan Sheldon is in her element with this outrageously funny tale of an uptight young girl who is forced to get over her preconceptions -- and dares to have herself a full-hearted adventure that's worth writing home about. Complete with a glossary of Britishisms in the back! Things turn out rather different from what she expected when Sophie Pitt-Turnbull takes a trip across the pond in this droll new novel by the author of CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE DRAMA QUEEN.KLIATT
To quote the review of the hardcover in KLIATT, May 2005: Sheldon has lived in both London and Brooklyn, so she is in a good position to write about a teenager from London who spends six weeks in Brooklyn "discovering" America. Sophie is the kind of character readers will think is just too snobby and stiff—and they will enjoy feeling superior to her. It's almost a farce the way Sophie gets to Brooklyn, completely unprepared for the freewheeling family she visits there. She is shocked by the chaos of their lives and starts out feeling totally superior. As the days and weeks wear on, Sophie gradually changes. She becomes much more accepting of people's differences; and more adventurous in many ways—and readers will enjoy each little crisis for her to encounter and overcome. In some ways, it's a class difference as much as a cultural difference that sets up Sophie's dilemma. (Anyone who knows England will know there are families there who live very much like the family Sophie finds in Brooklyn.) Sophie has been protected all her life, sheltered, spoiled, with no money worries. Imagine what a shock it is for her to live with a family that struggles to find the rent money each month. And then, when Sophie tries to organize the family's clutter, she inadvertently throws out the pickle jar containing the family's stash of emergency cash—$4000.00. The creative, fun-loving family is part of the charm of America; and Manhattan, with all its treasures and beauty, captures Sophie's awe and devotion. This is light-hearted fun.
Editorials
Sophie is devastated when she learns that her family is not going to France as usual for their summer holiday. However, the situation improves when she is invited to changeplaces with the daughter of a family friend, which means living in New York for the summer. Little does Sophie realize that she will not stay in Manhattan (like she thought) nor have a relaxing vacation (she shares a room, sleeps on the floor, and has to supervise two precocious children). Dyan Sheldon's easy-to-follow story chronicles Sophie's adventures navigating Brooklyn in the summer heat, supervising the kids, and interacting with the neighborhood residents. Most female readers will be able to relate to this humorous tale. With short chapters and relatively easy vocabulary, the novel would probably appeal to girls in grades six through ten. A helpful glossary at the end provides clarification for any foreign terms. 2005, Candlewick Press, 185 pp., Ages young adult.
—Lisa Scherff
KLIATT
Sheldon has lived in both London and Brooklyn, so she is in a good position to write about a teenager from London who spends six weeks in Brooklyn "discovering" America. Sophie is the kind of character readers will think is just too snobby and stiff—and they will enjoy feeling superior to her. It's almost a farce the way Sophie gets to Brooklyn, completely unprepared for the freewheeling family she visits there. She is shocked by the chaos of their lives and starts out feeling totally superior. As the days and weeks wear on, Sophie gradually changes. She becomes much more accepting of people's differences; and more adventurous in many ways—and readers will enjoy each little crisis for her to encounter and overcome. In some ways, it's a class difference as much as a cultural difference that sets up Sophie's dilemma. (Anyone who knows England will know there are families there who live very much like the family Sophie finds in Brooklyn.) Sophie has been protected all her life, sheltered, spoiled, with no money worries. Imagine what a shock it is for her to live with a family that struggles to find the rent money each month. And then, when Sophie tries to organize the family's clutter, she inadvertently throws out the pickle jar containing the family's stash of emergency cash—$4000.00. The creative, fun-loving family is part of the charm of America; and Manhattan, with all its treasures and beauty, captures Sophie's awe and devotion. This is light-hearted fun. KLIATT Codes: JS—Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2003, Candlewick, 185p., Ages 12 to 18.—Claire Rosser