The Discombobulated Life of Summer Rain

Author(s): Julie Lamb

Fiction - middle

Making people laugh is what Summer does best. It’s how she fits in. And is it any wonder with a family like hers? Top of the list of crazies is Pop, her stingy grandfather, who whips up possum stews and turns chicken scraps into the worst school lunches ever.


So why does Juanita suddenly want to be her friend? Juanita’s not her type, she has real sandwiches in her lunchbox, and does nice things like saving greyhounds and sticking up for people.


And then Pop gets himself a dangerous girlfriend with a mysterious past. Summer has to do something. Apple works in the crystal shop and knows a thing or two about love potions – can she brew an un-love potion? Juanita’s keen to help. But what if she discovers all the other embarrassing stuff – what if she finds out … everything?


Product Information

Winner of the 2017 Best First Book Award at the NZ Book Awards for Children & Young Adults

Shortlisted for Esther Glen Award Junior Fiction - NZ Book Awards for Children & Young Adults 2017

With a name like Julie Lamb you won't be surprised to learn this author has lived in the New Zealand countryside for most of her life. Also no surprise that Julie's first novel is about a girl living on a farm with her grandfather. Julie has always spent a lot of time thinking up stories in her head, but she properly started writing when her children Louis and Bella were growing up in Greytown and wanted more stories about crazy, funny kids. That's how a girl called Summer Rain was born. Julie believes there is more to the world than what we see in front of us. She says it's a kind of magic, which works itself out in all sorts of ways. Julie tries to capture that magic in her stories, and one day hopes to grow a set of wings, even if only on the inside.

General Fields

  • : 9780994123701
  • : Makaro Press
  • : Submarine
  • : April 2016
  • : 198mm X 130mm X 17mm
  • : New Zealand
  • : January 2021
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Julie Lamb
  • : Paperback
  • : en
  • : 246