My Not-So-Terrible Time at the Hippie Hotel

Reader reviewed by Dylana

I enjoyed this book all the way through. It's about Tracy, a daughter from a divorced family. She's spending her summer vacation at Farnsworth House (the Hippie Hotel, for divorced families to spend time with other divorced families. Tracy is sure she's going to hate this. She meets other girls her age: Beka is a pretty punk chick from NYC. She seems to mean and tough. Kelsey is an All-American California girl whose so upbeat and gets all the guys' attention. Tracy seems so boring and ugly in comparison to them. Until she finally meets Kevin, a boy who actually seems interested in her and only her. Is this the boy for her? At the Hippie Hotel, Tracy learns that being who she is isn't so bad after all, esp. with new friends and boys around. This book is great for all girls, esp. those from a divorced family. The book is written so realistically from Tracy's point of view. It's quirky, fun, emotional, and true. This book keeps you reading and wondering how it would be like if you spent the summer at Farnsworth Hotel. This is a very, very good book!

Reader reviewed by Grace

Fourteen-year-old Tracy is forced to spend her summer with her divorced dad at Farnsworth House, also known as the Hippie Hotel, because the woman who runs it, Sharon, looks like such a hippie. There are also two other families there for "Together Time", where divorced parents spend time with their kids on "excursions" to bond. Beka, the daughter of divorced parent Loraine, is a dark punk girl who Tracy finds it hard to be friends with. Beka breaks all the rules, and is very good at flirting with Sharon's son, Paul, as Tracy has noticed. But when the second family arrives, Tracy becomes friends with Kelsey, who is a "golden Californian girl" who is also great at flirting and not afraid to express her feelings. Together, they meet two boys, Dave and Kevin, and Tracy's summer gets more interesting as she tries to keep from boring Kevin and to make him like her, the most ordinary girl there is.

My Not-So-Terrible Time at the Hippie Hotel is a touching book about coping with having to live with divorced parents. Tracy also experiences with liking and flirting with a boy for the first time. Readers will feel close to Tracy and cheer for her.

Reader reviewed by linda

Tracy Forrester is not looking forward to her summer. Her dad has booked her and her siblings into the "Hippie Hotel", where divorced parents and their kids hang out with other split-up families. Tracy doesnt like it: "I think the idea is that if you get divorced kids together with other divorced kids, they wont feel so bad about being divorced. So far it hasnt worked." Tracy meets Beka who smokes and only listens to punk, and her mother Lorraine, who seems to have a crush on Tracys father, Kelsey whos so cute she makes Tracy feel even plainer, and Kevin, a cute local. Suddenly, the Hippie Hotel is actually "not-so-terrible." I liked this book, it was hilarious and the descriptions of the characters were quite detailed.