My Not-So-Terrible Time at the Hippie Hotel

by Rosemary Graham

Book Overview

Farnsworth House on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, is a place where guilty divorced parents bring their children for a summer of wholesome outings and "Together Time." Or at least that's what Tracy thinks when her father drags her there. Run by an ex-hippie earth mother, Farnsworth House is not the place Tracy wants to spend her summer vacation-until the day she meets a guy named Kevin on one of the group outings. Could it be that he actually likes her?...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0670036110
• ISBN13: 9780670036110
• Release Date: June 2003
• Publisher: Viking Books
• Length: 214 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.4" x 8.8"
• Age Range: 12 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 7 to 12

Customer Reviews

A refreshing read full of depth

As a 16 year old, I have begun to find some of the younger fiction tiring and cliche. The heroines are unoriginal, the problems tired. Such was NOT the case with Rosemary Graham's debut young adult novel, My Not-so-Terrible Time at the Hippi Hotel. The author was able to restore my faith in the genre, creating a believable heroine who was facing her problems one step at a time, and becoming a better person because of them. Tracey, the main character, is a dynamic creation who experiences a myriad of emotions that reflect the hormonal and social aspects that play a toll on young women. Tracey comes to the "Hippi Hotel" suffering from a parental split, a loss of motivation, and an insecurity about her weight and herself. The young woman that emerges has gained some true perspective, which is refreshingly delightful. I'd recommend this book to young and old who like to see someone triumph over personal tragedy, parents who want to show their girls a strong role model, and teenagers who have lost faith in young adult novels- no matter what your age or situation is, you will be able to draw something from this dynamic debut!

This is the best book I've read all summer!

I loved this book so much! My cousin gave it to me to take to soccer camp, and I read it all at once when we got rained out, and then read it again the next day. It was so funny, and the characters are awesome. Everyone can find somebody in the book to relate to, and it's even better the second time you read it. I just hope that there will be more of these books soon, because I can't get enough. I'll read it for a third and fourth time no prob, but I really want to see what happens to these people. For now I'm just making all my friends read it, and they all love it too. And we all think that Paul sounds cute. Everybody should buy this book! It just rocks.

This author is channeling a 14-year-old, I swear

How else to explain the fact that Rosemary Graham manages to inhabit the mind of a teenager in this book? And what a terrific read HIPPIE HOTEL is! I am (pretty much) grown up, and I found it hard to put down. Any young teenager would love it, too. This is the kind of story that you just fall right into, a great place to escape from the outside world. (Kind of like the Hippie Hotel in the story, come to think of it.)Janis Jaquith -- author of BIRDSEED COOKIES: A FRACTURED MEMOIR

A Great Read

You'll have a great time reading "My-So-Terrible Time..." The book is full of humor and great dialogue. Rosemary Graham does a terrific job of capturing what life is like for Tracy, a likable 14-year-old girl struggling with her own awkwardness, who tells the story in her own words. Tracy doesn't find it easy doing guy stuff like tricks on a skateboard--or even talking to boys she likes. But during her not-so-terrible time discovers Kevin, an unfolding Summer romance, and that she really has a lot going for herself.Tracy is being dragged off over the Summer to the "Hippie Hotel" in Cape Cod by her divorced father, for some "together time" along with other fractured families and single parents (Ugh.) She's dreading it (who wouldn't, described that way) and starts the book wondering how she's going to sneak into the pantry and eat five pounds of M & Ms overnight and how she'll get along with a difficult teenaged girl she's rooming with.But she meets Kevin on one of the group outings, and a shy romance blooms, and Tracy blossoms with it, as she learns a surprising lot about life, the people around her, and herself. It's a great read.

"Not-So-Terrible" is a treat

Sweet without being saccharine, breezy without being insubstantial, MY NOT SO TERRIBLE TIME AT THE HIPPIE HOTEL is a fun, fast read about a likeable girl enduring what many teens would consider the worst fate imaginable: the dreaded family vacation. What's different ? or not-so-different ? about Tracy's family is that her parents are divorced, and that this vacation is at a place created especially for single parents and their kids. How Tracy learns to deal with her family's new situation, her feelings about herself, and her feelings for a guy she meets makes for a story both refreshing and familiar.