Review : How To Ruin A Summer Vacation by Simone Elkeles

Summary (from Goodreads)

Moshav? What’s a moshav? Is it “shopping mall” in Hebrew? I mean, from what Jessica was telling me, Israeli stores have the latest fashions from Europe. That black dress Jessica has is really awesome. I know I’d be selling out if I go with the Sperm Donor to a mall, but I keep thinking about all the great stuff I could bring back home. 

Unfortunately for 16-year-old Amy Nelson, “moshav” is not Hebrew for “shopping mall.” Not even close. Think goats, not Gucci.
Going to Israel with her estranged Israeli father is the last thing Amy wants to do this summer. She’s got a serious grudge against her dad, a.k.a. “Sperm Donor,” for showing up so rarely in her life. Now he’s dragging her to a war zone to meet a family she’s never known, where she’ll probably be drafted into the army. At the very least, she’ll be stuck in a house with no AC and only one bathroom for seven people all summer—no best friend, no boyfriend, no shopping, no cell phone…
Goodbye pride—hello Israel.

Personal Thoughts

I read this book in mid-2011 and I hadn't written a review for it. Since, I didn't get much reading this week, I decided to write a review for this book. I remember looking at the cover and thinking how I knew this was going to be a boring read, but fortunately I was delightfully surprised.

The book stars Amy Nelson, a sixteen year old half American, half Israeli girl living with her mother in Chicago. Her father, who is mostly absent from Amy's life, calls to inform her that he is taking her to Israel for vacations to visit Amy's ailing grandmother. Amy is super mad at this since she never even knew she had a grandmother and she is somewhat angry at her dad for being such an absentee from her life. Amy's mother forces her to go and she begrudgingly agrees. She is confident that this trip will be a disaster, but Amy's going to be really surprised.
Amy, the main character of the book, is pretty much annoying, stubborn and confident. Nevertheless, I found her to be likable. That's because I found her to be very much real. In fact, she reminded me a lot of myself when I was sixteen. She was sarcastic, witty and funny. She was the kind of person who stood up for herself and didn't let other people control her. She was,in a way, independent and I loved her for that. At the beginning of the book, she goes to Israel with plenty of stereotypes indoctrinated inside of her, but throughout the vacation she comes to realize about how wrong she was about certain things. That's yet another characteristic I  admired in Amy. She might seem narrow-minded, but in fact she's not. I especially liked how she took an instant liking to her grandmother.
Throughout the book, the reader sees Amy mature a lot. She goes from disliking Israel to eventually falling in love with the country and realizing that it was in fact her heritage. I also liked Amy's slowly growing relationship with her father. It was really sweet and I was pretty much like "Awwwww" when it finally dawns on her how much her dad meant to her.
Some of the things she did were hilarious. Reading about Amy's adventures was so enjoyable! Overall, Amy was a very likable character.

How To Ruin A Summer Vacation has a great set of equally likable secondary characters. I'll admit that I have a soft spot for Avi, Amy's dad and her grandmother.
Avi is the love interest of Amy in this book. He initially starts out as being rude, annoying and a downright jerk to Amy. He really did frustrate me at times with his behavior, but sometimes he shows his softer side. Although, he tries to show that he hates Amy, he constantly helps her out whenever she's in need. I liked that about him. Towards the end of the book, we learn why Avi acts so despicable at times and I completely understood his position. Around that same time, he accepts that he has feelings for Amy and admits them. He becomes a very different person and his attitude towards Amy changes. They begin to share their stories, their fears, their hopes and their insecurities.
In a way, he helps Amy realize that a lot of  Amy'sviews on Israel and Israelis are quite wrong . I found their romance to be completely adorable and I found that they made a perfect couple.

As I mentioned above, I also really liked Amy's dad. He was the father who cared so much for his daughter that he refused to leave America and return to him hometown that he loved. The primary goal of  Ron, Amy's dad, in bringing his feisty daughter home was strengthening their relationship. The poor guy tries really hard to do so. I loved seeing their relationship grow.
Amy's grandmother was such a sweet character. I loved how accepting of Amy she was and I loved all the useful advice she gave Amy.
Oh and I loved Mutt, the dog with the speech impairment who annoys the heck out of Amy.

When I started this book, I thought it would be just a light fluffy read, but I was wrong because I learned so much about Israel and the people of Israel. Simone Elkeles makes me want to visit Israel so much! The culture, the heritage and the way of life of Israelis is described beautifully in this book and in a way it helped to clear up some stereotypes I had about Israel. Overall, this book is about family, culture, friendship, love and finding one's identity.

Simone Elkeles writing is simple and addictive. I finished reading this book really fast and I wanted the book to never end.

Overall, this book was a fantastic read that made Simone Elkeles one of my favorite YA author! If you haven't read this book yet, then go buy it now!

Rating
 

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 5/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 4/5