  | Weekends with Max and his dad Author: Urban, Linda | |
| Price: $6.50 | ||
Summary:
Third-grader Max pursues neighborhood adventures with his dad as they both adjust to recent changes in their family.
| Illustrator: | Kath, Katie |
| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: LG Reading Level: 4.10 Points: 2.0 Quiz: 181137 | Reading Counts Information: Interest Level: 3-5 Reading Level: 3.50 Points: 6.0 Quiz: 66774 | |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (01/01/16)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (06/16)
The Hornbook (00/01/16)
Full Text Reviews:
Bulletin for the Center... - 06/01/2016 Transitions can be tricky, and that’s certainly the case for third-grader Max, as he embarks on his first weekend visits to his dad (newly divorced from Max’s mom) at his dad’s new apartment. Over the course of three weekends (each treated in five brief chapters), Max gradually begins to get comfortable with both the idea and the reality of having two homes, as he helps his dad furnish the apartment, explores the neighborhood, meets the neighbors, and starts incorporating pieces of his old home life (having a friend sleep over, working on homework) into his new environment. Urban excels at credibly presenting this situation from Max’s third-grade point of view. When his dad wants to show him around the neighborhood, Max insists on spending the time practicing “spy skills,” allowing him to tentatively explore while still keeping actual acceptance of his new milieu at arm’s length. When Max sees his new bedroom he’s disappointed (“It’s very blue”) but won’t share his feelings with his dad for fear of hurting him. Urban’s writing is both crisply specific (a basset hound “sniffed as she walked through puddles, dragging her ears like flat-bottomed boats”) and simple enough to be accessible. Fans of Karen English and Claudia Mills may especially appreciate Max’s story, as might middle-graders facing a similar situation. Final artwork unseen. JH - Copyright 2016 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.
