Summer in Paris

           

 by: Michele Ashman Bell

Review By: Lauren Billings

           “I declared bankruptcy this morning. We’ve lost everything.” Kenzie’s father took a breath and then continued. “We have thirty days to auction off our belongings and move out of the house.” Kenzie whispered “Bankrupt,” her jaw dropped. How could this happen to her right now when she was having the best summer of her life! That word took power over her, no more chauffeurs and especially no more credit cards. “While we sort this out, we think it would be best if you stayed with your aunt and uncle in Paris.” Paris Kenzie thought. That wouldn’t be so bad! But wait…..her uncle didn’t live in Europe.  He lived in Idaho.” Michele Ashman Bell develops a very interesting and believable character of Kenzie Williams. 

               Kenzie Williams has it all: wealth, friends, popularity and talent. But when her father declares bankruptcy, her whole New York City world turns upside down. Her parents' solution, while they sort through their problems, is to send Kenzie to live out the summer with her relatives in Paris... Idaho! When Kenzie arrives in Idaho she is shocked to see her surroundings! Country, country, country!! She wakes up the next morning and puts on some of her aunt’s clothes because all she brought was designer clothes and goes downstairs. When she gets to the kitchen she is shocked to see what was for breakfast, oatmeal! Dancers can’t live on oatmeal. When she sits down at the table to eat her breakfast she is also surprised to see what is on the table in front of her. She looked up to find a list of chores with her name written at the top. After breakfast Kenzie’s  aunt teaches her how to do all the chores. Later that day she goes to the store with her aunt. A man that looks like he came from the mountains is sitting outside of the store. When her aunt comes out of the store she starts talking to him and soon after Kenzie and her cousin join her. When they get back into the car, Kenzie asks her who she was talking to? She answers, that was Josh……

            I can really connect this book to one of today’s biggest problems, debt. America has recently gone into even more debt because of the government shut down. To relate this to the book, Kenzie’s family had a little debt but as time went on they kept spending a lot of money that resulted in the family declaring bankruptcy.  As a result they had to sell everything they own to help pay off their debt. I can also relate this story to my life on a personal level.  Last year I broke my arm, twice. It was hard to accept this new reality for me because it changed everything about my life so drastically. The first drastic change was that I couldn’t go to dance class. I dance four to five hours a day and I couldn’t do any of it. I had spent countless hours training and perfecting solo and group routines that that now I would not be performing.  When I was finally able to dance again it was hard to get my head back in the game. I had a hard time doing lots of things because I hadn’t used my left arm in so long.  It felt strange completing dance moves that just months earlier, I had perfected.  I was worried about re-injuring myself again and starting the entire traumatic series of events over again.  Similarly,  Kenzie had a really hard time getting used to her environment from a big city to a farm.

            “This is a novel that will capture the imagination of teens everywhere, raves Rachel Ann Nunes, author of Saving Madeline. I couldn’t agree more.  I really love this book. It is a great realistic read. I love that it kept me wanting to read more of the book. I really like how the story came together.  It’s a good balance. It taught me the life lessons, to never give up because sometimes we have to do hard things that we think we won’t be able to do. When times get rough and we keep going, we can surprise ourselves when we are able to overcome difficulties.  It is through our difficulties that we find out who we really are and can be. I would highly recommend this book to any girl at Timberline Middle School, especially those who love realistic fiction.