Faraway Summer

by Johanna Hurwitz

Book Overview

In the summer of 1910, Dossi is surprised and terrified to discover that her sister is sending her to a Vermont farm on a charity-sponsored vacation. The landscape and the people of Vermont are very... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688153348
• ISBN13: 9780688153342
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Length: 155 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.8"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Great book!

I previously read "Dear Emma," and it was a great book. I really wanted to read the sequel, and as soon as possible I checked out "Faraway Summer" from the library. This book is the journal of Dossi, who lives in crowded Essex Street with her older sister, Ruthi, in a small room in someone else's apartment in a tenament building. She's shocked when she learns that Ruthi has filled out a Fresh Air Fund application for her. But whether she likes it or not, she boards a train for Jericho, Vermont. She's staying with the Meade's, who live on a 52-acre farm and who own a large house. They have an eight year old girl Nell and a girl Emma her own age. Most of all, she wants Emma to be her friend. She sees lots of new things-fireflies, huge amounts of food, cows and chickens, and large, open space-something she's never experienced before. She thinks the food is the best thing ever! Emma remains cold and unfriendly until the end of the book. I think it's said when Emma leaves Dossi's library book out in the rain by the pond. This was a great book and I'd recommend it to everyone. Good work, Johanna Hurwitz!

What a beutyfull story!

I have read lots of Joanna Hurwitz's books and i must say this is one of her best. Haddasa [Dossi for short] has nobody but her sister Ruthi and her friend Mimy. Dossi 's parents have passed out and so has her sister . Dossi and Ruthi live in a crowded tenament with just one room too do everything : Eat , Sleap , Sit , Stand ....... Ruthi works in a sewing factory. The tenament smells of sweat and OF COURES They dont have a single toy. When Ruthi signs Dossi up for a Fresh Air Fund ,Dossi objects . But when Dossi starts to like , even befriend the family she is staying with ..............

Marvelous !!

Dossi is a poor girl who lives in the city.Her parents and younger sister,Velvel have passed away.Dossi's sister,Ruthi is the one who will take care of them.She works in the factory.When Ruthi signs Dossi up to be sent to the country,on a Fresh Air Fund vacation,Dossi is terrified and surprised.Soon,the day had come to go to the country.Dossi packed her bags and brought along a library book which was a new one.She and her friend,Mimi, didn't tell the librarian that Dossi was taking it away.Dossi prommises Ruthi that she will send a postcard to her as soon as she reaches her destination.In the country,she meets the gentile Meade family.Nell and Emma are around Dossi's age.Mr. Meade and Mrs. Meade also have two sons,Timothy and Edward.Nell chats nineteen to a dozen.Emma doesn't.There are a lot of things that Dossi hasn't seen.Like fireflies,cows,two yolks in one egg and many other things.She learns about a man named Snowflake Bentley.He is mad about snowflakes.Snowflake Bentley also takes photos of snowflakes not people.Dossi likes Nell but she wants to befriend Emma too.But Emma treats her like if she is not there.Will Dossi be able to befriend Emma before her holiday in the country ends?

A wonderful book about friendship and families

This is a good story about a girl who spends a few weeks with a family that is very different from her own. Dossi learns other people have alot to offer her and she has alot to offer in a friendship,too. Hurwitz is a wonderful author; she makes the characters and situation come alive.

Great book!

This was a great book. It is about Dossi, a poor Jewish orphan from New York City who is able to spend two weeks in August of 1910 in the Vermont countryside through the Fresh Air Fund. Dossi learns about country life from her hosts' two daughters, and Dossi in turn teaches them about city life. I highly reccomend this book.