In this endearing middle grade book kids follow 9 year old Debbie on her adventures with The Sunny Side Gang which is made up of ALL BOYS and her dog "Chopper". There are numerous groundings for Debbie and her brother, Dell in store and that should give you an idea of how adventurous this group of kids are! Some of the adventures are dangerous and include an education on the danger of fires and when you "SHOULD" tell secrets.

The book takes place in the 1960's and it's FUN to see kids being kids. Not sitting in front of the TV all day playing games or watching shows they shouldn't be watching. Parents are parents and kids are kids. These kids take pride in winning the right to get the baseball field in the morning before the day gets hot, digging a fort big enough for all 5 kids and their dog and reading a book for the afternoon.

The book does have a few "swear" words but it's not "in your face" like it would be in a book set nowadays. Debbie is careful to tell us she can use "jack----" because it's an real animal not just a bad word. The children in the book are very "innocent" and childlike which was wonderful to see. As a caution for parents - there is a death of a child in the book due to drowning - so you may have questions to answer.

Debbie (the author) hopefully will add another book to this one making it a series. I think it would be a great series for kids in 3rd/4th grades (or ages 9-12). The author was born in SLC and grew up in California where she spent time surfing and swimming. She has 4 children, 11 grand children, 4 Schnauzers (WOW!) and loves to garden, said, golf, travel and read.

Summer Brain Drain - Suggestion:
Why not provide your daughter with this book along with a diary or journal. Encourage your daughter to journal each day - even for just 15 minutes. She can share her thoughts, her joys or upsets, the lyrics to her favorite song. Remember it's not the number of books - but the time spent reading & writing that helps prevent Summer Brain Drain! ( )

I tried twice to get into this book. I could not even force my way through this. I was really disappointed because the review sounded enjoyable. Cannot recommend. ( )

This book would probably be great for kids around nine years old, (as it is told from a nine year olds point of view). The first few chapters are a little repetitive and it ends on a sad note. But all around a good book for kids I think. It takes you back to when you were young and things were simple and magical and scary all at the same time!! ( )

This book tells the story of Debbie and her struggles with keeping secrets and other childlike problems. While this book is a good example of realistic fiction, it was very cliche and difficult to read. I felt that I knew what she was going to say and I found it hard to connect to the character. I could see some students enjoying it because of the child's voice in which it was written, but it was far too simple and uninteresting for me. ( )

The first few chapters were very slow and repetitive. I almost put it down. I couldn't tell if it was the author trying to stay true to how a nine year old would write, or if it was just bad writing.

The book did get better from there. It was refreshing to read about children playing before the advent of video games and cell phones. I wonder if my students would be able to connect with this?

The last chapters threw me for a loop, as the story became suddenly very serious. I had to slow down and reread as I thought to myself, "Is the author really going there?"

Overall, I enjoyed the book and look forward to seeing where the series goes.