Dear Sylvia (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780888998484)

Winner of the OLA's Forest of Reading Silver Birch Express Award

Sylvia Tull -- the girl whose very glance turns Owen's face into a burning tomato -- has moved away from the small village where Owen lives with his parents and two brothers. But he still has the birthday gift she gave him -- a stationery set, complete with stamped envelopes -- because she wants him to keep sending her stories.

So Owen nervously begins to write Sylvia about all the things that are going on in his life. How his little brother, Leonard, got his head stuck in the bannister. The disastrous camping trip with his irritating girl cousins. How his new baby cousin will only stop screaming if Owen carries her.

And he tells her about the most bewildering drama to hit the Skye household yet, when the boys' father quits his insurance job to write a novel, and all the Skyes have to cope with the consequences.

Alan Cumyn has written an irresistible epistolary novel. Owen is a true writer in his head -- but getting the right words onto the page is another story. Young readers will easily identify as he wrestles with his spelling, with his writer's insecurity, and with his deep desire to tell Sylvia the truth about what is going on in his life, and in his heart.

Author: Alan Cumyn
ISBN-10: 0888998481
ISBN-13: 9780888998484
Publisher: Groundwood Books
Language: English
Published: 04/01/2008
Pages: 184
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.45lbs
Size: 7.40h x 5.00w x 0.60d

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 4.5
Point Value: 3
Interest Level: Middle Grade
Quiz #/Name: 126726 / Dear Sylvia


Review Citation(s):
Hornbook Guide to Children 10/01/2008 pg. 339 - Recommended, Satisfactory
Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2008 pg. 339 - Recommended, Satisfactory