Summer camp is the perfect backdrop to a juicy summer vacation story. Maddie's summer is filled with drama, tragedy, and comedy.  Think about these emotional ups and downs as you discuss My Summer Vacation.

Use the following questions to:
    •    further connect to the different characters in the story
    •    have a book talk with friends or family
    •    have a classroom discussion about literary elements such as plot, word choice, dialogue, and sensory language.

 Plot questions:

    1.    Where is the climax in this story?

    2.    There are several sub-plots in the story. What are they and how do they each connect to one another and to the main plot?

    3.    Why do you think the author chose to have Maddie NOT get romantically involved with Noah?

    4.    Do you think Maddie writes Justin back after the end of the story?

 Analyzing literary elements:

    1.    Metaphor and simile are used through out the story. Find some places where they are used effectively and find places where they are not.

    2.    Does the dialogue in the story sound authentic? Why or why not?

    3.    Find places in the story where you feel the author made a good word choice and find places where the author made bad word choices.

 Relating to the character:

    1.    In what ways are you similar to Maddie? How are you different?

    2.    Recovery is a huge part of the secondary characters and plot in this story.  Compare and contrast Maddie's sister's recovery with Brian's brother's recovery.

    3.   Maddie deals with death in this story. Have you ever lost a friend or peer to death?  What was that like?

    4.    Maddie's camp clique abruptly splits up.  Have you ever had a similar situation with your group of friends?