The+Summer+I+Saved+the+World+in+65+Days

The Summer I Saved the World in 65 Days by Michele Weber Hurwitz 2014 Realistic Fiction

Recommended by Booklist Grades 5-8

Link to the NHU-PAC entry here

Summary (Amazon) It's summertime, and thirteen-year-old Nina Ross is feeling kind of lost. Her beloved grandma died last year; her parents work all the time; her brother's busy; and her best friend is into clothes, makeup, and boys. While Nina doesn't know what "her thing" is yet, it's definitely not shopping and makeup. And it's not //boys, // either. Though. . . has Eli, the boy next door, always been so cute?  This summer, Nina decides to change things. She hatches a plan. There are sixty-five days of summer. Every day, she'll anonymously do one small but remarkable good thing for someone in her neighborhood, and find out: does doing good actually make a difference? Along the way, she discovers that her neighborhood, and her family, are full of surprises and secrets.  In this bighearted, sweetly romantic novel, things may not turn out exactly as Nina expects. They might be better.

Comments:

Nice acts of kindness...draw the neighborhood together. A good read that offers a refreshing departure from dystopian reads. Yes, please! Amy/Barrington MS

Serves a population of teens we should be serving. Nina quietly goes about her way to help her neighbors. I would fight for this book to be included on this list. Nancy/former Madbury

Kind of goes along with our Summer Reading Theme...'Heroes'. Lisa/Durham PL

I agree - this is a nice book. It's a simple story with well-drawn characters, age-appropriate and a good balance for the more intense, higher-level books that often populate our list. Hurwitz creates a balance between a "message" book and a book with a compelling story; I was interested in Nina and her mission, and there's much that our teens can take away to apply to their own circle of influence. I think it would be a good addition to our list. Yvette/Merrimack