Sydney A. Frankel's Summer Mix-Up By Danielle Joseph Ages 8-12 years

Sydney Frankel, soon to be a sixth-grader, is looking forward to a summer of fun with her best friend, Maggie. She figures she deserves some time to herself to do what she wants before her mom delivers Sydney's new sibling in just four months. Too bad Sydney's mom has other plans for her.

Sydney's forced to take a summer course at the South Miami Community Center. She's allowed to take any class, except for what she really wants―a reading course. But when Maggie comes up with a switcheroo plan so that they can both take the classes they like, unexpected complications arise.

"Syd­ney A. Frankel loves to read. Her moth­er insists that she take a sum­mer class in any­thing but read­ing in order to broad­en her hori­zons and gain self-con­fi­dence. Syd­ney’s friend, Mag­gie, loves to dance. Her moth­er insists that she take a sum­mer class in read­ing because she needs the prac­tice. What are two bright, deter­mined, cre­ative ris­ing sixth-graders to do? Switch iden­ti­ties at the com­mu­ni­ty cen­ter where the sum­mer pro­grams are held, of course. Syd­ney attends Maggie’s read­ing class; Mag­gie attends the dance class in Sydney’s stead. Nat­u­ral­ly, the plan leads to a com­plex com­e­dy of errors involv­ing oth­er kids, teach­ers, and, ulti­mate­ly, parents.

Com­pli­ca­tions include a new sib­ling for Syd­ney, a wise bubbe, a crush, a miss­ing pet tur­tle, and a loom­ing end-of-year pro­gram show­cas­ing the accom­plish­ments of all the chil­dren in the sum­mer pro­gram, with par­ents and even grand­par­ents invit­ed. Syd­ney and Mag­gie learn some impor­tant lessons about devel­op­ing new strengths and also about the val­ues of own­ing up to actions, being hon­est, and accept­ing responsibility.

This amus­ing romp with its twisty plot and its sparkling writ­ing teach­es these lessons with a light touch and a large help­ing of humor. The easy-to-read chap­ter book for­mat is invit­ing. Read­ers will be both enter­tained and enlightened." ― Michal Hoschander Malen, Jewish Books Council

Danielle Joseph was born in Cape Town, South Africa. The author of several young adult novels and picture books, she lives in Maryland with her husband, three kids, and a dog named Ringo. When not writing, she's swimming, listening to music, or chasing after her dog!