Jake - Hardcover

Couloumbis, Audrey

3.65

559 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0375856307 ISBN 13: 9780375856303

Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers, 2010

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A heartwarming holiday story from Audrey Couloumbis, the Newbery Honor–winning author of Getting Near to Baby. With beautiful writing and an endearing young narrator so honest and full of hope that you can't help but fall in love with him, Audrey Couloumbis tells a story, of a young boy and the grandfather that he’s just getting to know, that will make readers laugh and cry and, most of all, appreciate the gift of family.

It's a few days before Christmas when ten-year-old Jake's mom breaks her leg, ending up in the hospital. For as long as Jake can remember, it's been just him and his mom. So with no one else to look after him, the hospital contacts the gruff granddad that Jake only knows through awkward twice-a-year phone calls. When Granddad shows up, he's nothing like Jake expected. And he brings a dog with him—a nightmare dog, Jake thinks at first. But as Jake gets to know his grandfather and a makeshift family of friends and neighbors comes together around him and his mom, he realizes that this might not be such a bad Christmas after all.

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About the Author:

Audrey Couloumbis's first book for children, Getting Near to Baby, won the Newbery Honor in 2000. Audrey is also the author of several other highly acclaimed books for young readers, including The Misadventures of Maude March (which was named a Book Sense 76 Pick, a New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing Selection, and a National Parenting Publications Gold Award Winner), Love Me Tender (a Book Sense Summer 2008 Pick) and War Games, which she coauthored with her husband, Akila Couloumbis (a Junior Library Guild Selection). Audrey lives in upstate New York and Florida with her dog, Phoebe, and Phoebe's two pet parakeets, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.

From School Library Journal:

Gr 3-5–When 10-year-old Jake's mom slips on ice and breaks her leg a few days before Christmas, her hospital stay necessitates a holiday visit from the boy's paternal grandfather. Jake hasn't seen him and has barely spoken to him since Jake's dad died years earlier, and at first he is wary of Granddad and his unlikable little dog. The story of how they all come to appreciate one another is a simple one, relying on interesting characters and a young narrator who, perhaps because he has been raised among strong women, is punctilious about reporting his feelings and reactions to events, even when he doesn't really understand them. No high drama or overwrought emotions here, just some folks–and a dog–coming together as a family. Jake tells his story in a straightforward and often funny way that will resonate with young readers well beyond the holiday season.Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library
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