This a well writen story that appears simple in nature but has a rich descriptive vocabulary and a clear story line. The quaint town of Lumberville is experiencing a huge heat wave. The story describes how the residents are trying to survive the intense heat. Every one tryies a different approach to stay cool. The story has clear examples of cause and effect and is presented in ways you could question children on how and why each character does what they do and how it helps them stay cool. There is also a good example of life in the 1950"s and vocabulary that student may not be so familiar with, like kerchief, washtub, linoleum and sleeping porch. There are alos simple examples of figurative langugae like, "the river whispered" or "the moon cast a soft, silvery light". It could be good intro book for descriptive writing or even retelling a narrative story by using good seququencing and descriptive language. A ggod read aloud. ( )

Simply a nice story of a town that is going through a heatwave and how they put up with it one day at a time. ( )

Heat Wave is about a town who is experience an extreme wave of heat in their weather. The town is seeking for every possible way to stay cool. Children sell lemonade, play in water and seek to stay cool. Hair is getting shorter, beards are being shaved, and new and interesting places are being used for sleep. The story interestingly ends with a group of people who cannot stand the heat and find that the coolest place in town is in the dried up riverbed. This night turns out to be a massive slumber party as people from all over town are finding eachother in the riverbed! ( )

A heat wave has citizens of a town trying to beat the temperature in any way possible. Illustrations enhance the text beautifully, capable of telling the story themselves. Colors are primarily orange and blue, reinforcing the temperature, making it palpable. Some text is even written in orange—“Tuesday, it was hotter”—allowing the reader to feel the unrelenting heat along with the characters. Unordered and disjointed images reinforce the fact that this is more like snapshots of lives rather than a plotted storyline—enjoyable for some, but confusing for others. In addition, while some illustrations add more to the text—one man who “didn’t cook” is shown in a restaurant—others seem to contradict it-several people are shown smiling despite uncomfortable heat. Overall, the interplay between text and images is so well done, allowing a complete immersion into the story, this book is well worth the read. ( )

This is a good example of a realistic fiction book. The story is not true, but everything that happened in the story could really happen in real life. The main point of the story was that a whole week was hot and everyone was miserable, which is completely believable. The things the characters do to stay cool, (eating ice cream, showering, playing with the hose) are all relatable. The setting in this story is an intregal setting because it must take place somewhere where the temperature gets hot enough to make people do things such as sleep outside. The story would not make sense if it took place in Alaska, or somewhere cold like that.

Level: Primary-Intermediate