Summer Break

Glee #3

by Sophia Lowell

Fans are clamoring for more showmance, more mash-ups, more Cheerios...more Glee ! Now, Gleeks everywhere can spend more time with uber-ambitious Rachel Berry, outrageous Kurt Hummel, and dreamy Finn Hudson with these completely original stories about everyone's favorite glee club.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Tv, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Teen, High School

224 pages, Paperback

First published July 5, 2011

About the author

Sophia Lowell is the pen name for a talented and seasoned YA novelist.

Reviews

[Robin · Rating 1 out of 5]

what, and I can’t stress this enough, the fuck???

[Lia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating cover and story: ⭐⭐⭐

There's new characters on this book so great and better story about Rachel comeback. Sadly this is last book of Glee the series, from The Beginning, Foreign Exchange till Summer Break. It also making a flashback of watching Glee (tv show).

Glee: Summer Break: An Original Novel

[Stephanie A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

All I can figure is that the author got tired of criticisms about not being sufficiently in character or canon-based and just went, "Screw it, I'm going AU." Most of it is a fantasy sequence set a year in the future after Rachel hits her head. It was a little disappointing after the great grasp of character dynamics in the last book, but still entertaining to have Kurt running around as Big Star Rachel's personal assistant/life coach/only person who can stand her, patiently filling in the gaps of her "amnesia" as he goes. Their friendship works in all universes! I also enjoyed the "Where In The World Is Homeless Mr. Schuester?" game.

(personally bitter comment: I have very little respect for a book set at the end of season 2 that fails to so much as mention Blaine's name, especially after referencing Dalton.)

In conclusion: they may not be groundbreaking, but all 3 books work together as a nice little package of bonus "Glee" material for those who just can't get enough and/or don't have access to non-profit fanfic on the internet.

[Meggie Moo · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5
Points for:
Kurt being a canon swifte, Klaine not being canon despite the timeline <3, bad gnomance 😍

Points deducted for: everything else but primarily straight Santana

[Hannah Timm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personal Response
I really enjoyed Summer Break. It shares a great representation of the characters and how other characters feel about one another. Dreaming of the reality of a character is a classic, but it was well needed and greatly written. In this book, you can guess what would happen and yet you don’t. I like books that depict that. I love how the author keeps the characters traditional attitudes and personalities and yet spins it to go along with the story. Overall, Summer Break is a great story.

Plot Summary
Rachel Berry is preparing for her rise to stardom. However, the glee club wants to volunteer as vocal-coaches for the elementary students during the summer. Rachel is furious that no one will listen to her. Rachel gets home after arguing with Finn and puts on her dancing shoes she has ordered. When wearing them she falls and hits her head. When she wakes up she is on a plane, which happens to be her own private jet! It turns out Rachel is in the future with Kurt as her assistant. She dropped out of high school and is now a Broadway star known as Scary Berry. She is on her way back to McKinley to perform at the end of the year rally. When she gets back everything is not what it used to be. Mercedes is head of the Cheerios, Brittany runs the glee club, and Mr.Schuester is missing! Rachel invites two mean guest stars to perform with her. Their rudeness, her manipulation of Kurt, and the honest truth of her old friends show her she needs to change her ways. At the end of her performance, Rachel meets a janitor who is actually Mr.Schuester! He tells her that he went to follow her to New York but she denied knowing him and he lost everything. At the rally, she agrees to help out a singing group at a youth center. She then has another accident and hits her head. When she wakes up she is back in her room. She had a terrible dream but realizes she must fix herself. Rachel agrees to help the youth camp and finds out she actually enjoyed it.

Recommendation
Summer Break is a great, on the edge of your seat book. I highly recommend it to people who need help at a glimpse of reality. Readers should watch the Glee television series to understand characters personalities. It is a simple book for all people. I would recommend this to all who have the ability to read chapter books. Glee is a great story to share and all should read this.

[Emily Rhoads · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow. What a truly horrible piece of garbage. I hated the first two Glee books, which I made the mistake of purchasing hoping they would be good/get better, but this one really took the cake. Thank God I did not spend money on it (Got it at the library) but I really want the two days I spent reading it back. It is written like fan fiction - BAD fan fiction. "Brittany is stupid, Santana is a mean lesbian, Quinn is a goody-two-shoes" does NOT translate to the page at all. It says on the back that it is approved by the writers of the show. All I have to say is, if I thought Ryan Murphey was an asshole before, I think he's an idiot now. Ugh. Will never read another Glee book.

[Tereza Eliášová · Rating 3 out of 5]

UPDATE, více tady: http://mundo-da-teresinha.blogspot.co...

Další kniha Glee, drží si stejnou úroveň jako předešlé. Nejsem velký fanoušek seriálu, ale nebylo to špatné. Tahle má navíc kapku rafinovanější zápletku, i když ji rychle prokouknete, je to vlastně docela sranda a dobrý nápad :)

[Binibining `E (of The Ugly Writers) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Haha! What a dream!! Rachel Berry goes Broadway eh?? Even with this story i still don't find myself liking her, she's self-centered, over confident lady, but she really is good at singing. I so love Kurt and his gayness. XD

[natalie · Rating 1 out of 5]

The worst out of the 3, like it was terrible. Too much Rachel berry and that's saying something as she practically the main character.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writing style is better than the first two books and gets ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The plot gets ⭐️⭐️⭐️ . It was a good plot, although the majority had me depressed.
But let’s be honest - the summary of the book on the back gets ⭐️⭐️. Very far off so I was basically expecting the opposite of this book! I was expecting it to be more about the workshop, and the first few chapters also gave me that feeling. With the plot twist, I was really shocked.
Although I agree with fellow reviewers that it wasn’t my favorite how Rachel Berry was the main focus character, i liked that this was a narrative where she learns not to take everyone for granted. The other characters developed shockingly and I thought it was too bad some of them weren’t portrayed differently. It wasn’t always believable the way they had developed. I know that Rachel Berry is an important Glee member, but the other characters are also powerful singers who can take control of their lives. But I definitely understand that it maybe was necessary for the plot.
If we’re talking about Santana and Brittany: liked how Britt developed. Santana, however, who changed quite a bit as the show went on, even in season two, was disappointing for me. For instance, she is very talented and that didn’t show up in the book. And she was depicted as straight. When there were things described going on with Britt, just briefly. I’d really appreciate more depth to her character and maybe whole chapters from her viewpoint. Santana deserves more she is a 👑

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story. The characterizations were good (except Puck was extra-cringey), the author captured Rachel's annoying self-obsession perfectly. Needed more Tina/Mike/Artie, but hey, at least it's consistent with the show! The writing was a bit weird: elementary-school level prose but with some really adult stuff thrown in...what age was this aimed at again? Still, if you like the show or are rewatching in quarantine, this is a fun & quick read.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was some nostalgia when I read this, as I was a huge fan of Glee, but it ended up being a disappointing read. The story is very low-stakes, and it's weird that they titled this "Summer Break" since the plot doesn't really revolve around that. It also felt like a strange fan fiction that lacks any compelling thematic elements to justify its existence. I really never cared about Rachel's journey here. I guess a musical series is not necessarily the ideal choice for a book version.

[Migs Fiel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sad that this has to end, but finishing it brought a smile to my face. I know I'm going to love Rachel Berry forever. It was fun seeing her develop throughout the trilogy.

I gave it four stars because the bit with Mr. Schuester was unrealistic and the transition to the fantasy-bit could have been smoother. Otherwise, this is a refreshing read.

[Shroomgirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This literally felt like reading an episode of glee wow. 5/5.
This made my gleek heart so happy.
The gags in here were as unhinged as glee and I can not recommend this book more to anyone who has watched the show.
°°°
"I'm sorry I was totally just trying to get a shot of your joobs"

"My what-?"

"Yknow, joobs. Jew boobs."

[Jaskson56 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not into the fact that it's based soley on Rachel's big success even if it is fake.

[Manon Kroon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The storyline is confusing and you need a few reads to understand the book

[Donna Troy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The lore was a bit messed up enough for me to be confused at first when this was supposed to take place but this kinda predicted season 4 ctfu

[Laura Cushing · Rating 1 out of 5]

If Hell has a bookshelf, this book is sitting in a prominent place on it. I picked this 'book' up at our local library because I enjoy the Glee television show, and thought I might likewise enjoy the tie-in book. As I have read good tie-in books before (see the Monk series of novels by Lee Goldberg ), I was cautiously optimistic.

It started out okay enough- Summer Break was approaching and the Glee kids were getting ready to be counselors in a music camp for kids. Except of course, for Rachel, who had her own summer agenda. Now-- this isn't a bad premise. This could have been an enjoyable plot. Everyone teaches adorable little kids, Rachel eventually comes around and works with the others, yadda yadda is it's an episode of Glee.

For some godforsaken reason, 'Sophia Lowell' (the pen name of a YA author obviously too ashamed to put her real name on this garbage) decided that the best thing to do with that plot was trash it. Instead, Rachel hits her head on a bust of one of her idols and gets knocked unconscious.

While unconscious, she has an extended dream sequence about being a big star who quit Glee Club and high school to go to Broadway. She's returning to her old Alma Mata, only to find out that everything has gone haywire without her there. Even this grating cliched dream sequence would have been somewhat tolerable if it was a short intermission for the real plot. But no. That was the plot. The first plot we were introduced to? Only re-emerges in the last five pages, when Rachel says she's totally changed her mind and is going to work with the others.

We never actually see the summer camp, the cute little kids, or any other thing of interest (say, character development or a reason to care enough to read other books in the series).

Now granted, as an adult casual viewer of the show, I'm not the target audience. The target audience is likely a teenage Gleek (That's 'Glee fan') - but that's no reason to dumb it down for her. Give a teen a good read, something with characters and a plot that stay true to the show's dynamic.

I'd cut for spoilers but let's face it - if you have any taste whatsoever, you won't read this. If you see this book, don't pick up a copy. Don't purchase a copy. In fact, the only reason you should ever touch this book is to drop it into a nearby garbage can to save someone else the horror of having to read it.

If there was a -1 star option, I'd give it to this.

[Jesse Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summer has strolled around the corner and that for the Glee kids means no school, no slushies and a bliss filled period of time with which they can (within reason) do whatever they like. Yeah! Um, no – Mr. Schuster has had the bright idea of running a summer camp for the local schools – potentially throwing all their summer plans (or lack of them) out the window.

It sounds like a fabulous idea for a story but for me I didn’t really see enough of the summer camp – it’s there at the start and there at the end but it’s nowhere to be found in the middle instead the story does something equally interesting (I’m not telling you what!) which makes it in it’s own Glee-ish way a thought provoking little story that examines the decisions people make and the effects it can have on other people’s lives.

This leads me to the star at the centre of this story – Rachel Berry (though Kurt comes a close second), even more so than the other books and the TV series and I don’t mean that she grabs the spotlight – we actually see most (but not all) of the story by following her character around (there’s a very good reason for this but I’m not going to tell you what it is ;) unlike in previous books which have followed all the characters around like the series).

A character that really stood out for me this time around was Brittany – now I’ve always liked her in the show (and infantley more so in the latest series) and in this book she’s there walking, talking and just as adorable as ever doing the Brittany things I love her for. And I can’t finish talking about characters without a shout out to Coach Sylvester who gets a bigger share of the action than in the previous books and her one liners are as classic as ever.

I did have one niggle though and this was to do with timings – I believe the story is supposed to take place after the series which has just finished yet – If I remember rightly New York Nationals was mentioned, but we see near the end Brittany in her Cheerios uniform when I thought she left them?

Either way I think this a great addition to the Glee Novels, once again taking one of my favourite TV shows and transferring it to the page whilst still keeping intact the characters, their personalities and everything that I love about the show.

[01toriw · Rating 2 out of 5]

The protagonist in this story is Rachel Berry, a musically talented teenager with big dreams of becoming a Broadway star in her future. As the book begins, it is the last week of school and Rachel is highly anticipating summer break so she can be able to start her career of being a famous Broadway star. While she is at glee club rehersal, her instructor, Mr Shuester, has notified the class that there will be a summer youth camp for musical learning and all the glee club members are the instructors for it. This would get in the way for Rachel's goal in the summer to start working towards her dream. She turned down the opportunity to teach at the youth camp and headed home.
While in her bedroom, Rachel was already practicing dancing for her future profession. When she danced she got lost in the spinning and twirling and fell down and hit her head hard. When she woke up, she was no longer in her bedroom, but on a private jet that was her own. Her best friend from glee club, Kurt, was her designer for her clothes. She found out that she and Kurt were both high school dropouts and Rachel was a big time Broadway star just as she dreamed. She and Kurt both travel back to McKinley High School and visit their old glee friends, though their friends do not seem like the same people they left before. Everyone is different and not the same. She realizes that all of this happened because she didn't volunteer to teach at the youth camp. Rachel soon realizes she made a mistake and she finally wakes up in her room with a large lump on her head. It was all a dream and she realizes that being a star is not what she thought at all. She decides to go back to school and volunteers to be the leader of the youth camp.

I rated this book 2 stars because I personally didn't enjoy the slow moving parts of the book and I felt it didn't explain parts that well.
I would recomend this book to teenagers because the book is about high school life and I feel teenagers would relate to it better.

[Menoedh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't believe that it only took me less than a week to finish this book because of my previous experience with Glee books. But "Summer Break" couldn't be in my possession in better timing.

Glee has been in the longest hiatus ever from season 5 to season 6 and I guess I miss the show quite a lot. To find the book accidentally is a nice thing too. Oh and after that disaster called Blue Moon as a light reading, this book is a nice save.

There are three things that I really like from the book. First, It's humor. I don't remember the previous book this funny because I was chuckling every several pages or so with the how self-absorb Rachel Berry is. Which in itself is another reason why I like the book; Lowell is still true to the Annoying!Rachel character. The show writers kind of ruin that character for years now.

Second, it reminds me of the props episode in the third season. It's one of my favorite episode or thing when characters can just switch and makes a brilliant comedy. Though it's not actually switching characters, to see the Glee kids changing roles and situation is like reading a really well written fanfiction.

And third, the song features are back! Glee is not glee if there are no songs mentioned and this book got it back.

I still think it's not a book for non-gleeks because the way the characters are written are for people who are already quite familiar with the glee kids. Out of the three original novels, I'd recommend this one for Gleeks to read.

[Yara Hatem · Rating 1 out of 5]

Meeh..

I love glee don't get me wrong but getting this book for the price I paid for, so did not help.

I felt that the author was like a " bitchy " women who just went on and on and just wouldn't just SHUT UP! Like comon we are not stupid to the point that you need to keep on blabling on the same pointless point for 3 pages!!!

but to be fair I did laugh at points, but I think it was more cause of the fact that I rem.d these situations from early seasons.

I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone. It's just more of a commercial book rather than an actual read!

[Vendea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Příjemné počteníčko stejně jako předchozí díly. Opět bych doporučila jen fanouškům Glee, protože je to jen taková třešnička na dortu pro fanoušky. Kniha se odehrává na konci druhé série a docela mě překvapilo, že se kniha drží seriálu. Proměna Rachel Berry ve Scary Berry byla zábavná, stejně jako Svatá Santana a ostatní proměny. Připomělo mi to trochu proměnu identit na konci třetí série. Pokud chcete knihu celou jen o Rachel Berry, tahle je pro vás jako dělaná.

[Metzli Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book about dreams coming true and shooting for the stars. Rachel Berry is one of a kind, a star. Summer break is coming and Rachel wants to get prepared for a whole summer of rehearsals and singing and acting and of course having time for Finn, the man she loves. Rachel then has this weird dream where the whole world is upside down and people changed to people they never were like the mean people turned nice and so on. Rachel got confused when she saw what happened. Can this be really true?

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like I said about the previous book, love the idea and POV's but I can't picture it in my mind as I'm reading because I think, this isn't how Lea Michele would act or the fact that I can't always remember what everyone looks like perfectly and I won't settle for anything else because my mind is set on the actual cast playing the roles of Rachel Berry and Kurt Hummel.

[claud. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like I was reading fanfiction or an Internet roleplay. Bad narration, a sort of okay plot but I thought the plot itself had no relation whatsoever to the title. I thought the book would tell us how the Glee members would spend their summer teaching kids and all that, but instead we read about how Rachel dreams that she's a celebrity? Tsk, misleading.

[Grace&#x1f49c; · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was expecting this book to be boring and dull ( due to the fact it's a T.V. Show novel ) but, actually it wasn't
Was mainly about Rachel
Had VERY good character development!
Started to read it again awhile ago...
When I first started it, it was boring and hard to get into but, after putting it down for a couple of months, I came back to it and finished it in 2 days

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this was my favorite of the Glee novels, as it featured an "alternate world" a year into the future after Rachel hits her head. I cracked up at all of Brittany's one-liners, and once again feel like the author matched everyone's personality perfectly.

I hope there are more published!

[Pattie Cowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even with more negitave comments on good reads and nook shop, I think think that this book was great! Sure, their were times when I wished Rachel would go back to her real life, but it was still fun to read. Mager Quinn fans would might like to no she is listed more in the end.

[Duckpondwithoutducks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the TV show, so I also liked the quirky characters and witty dialogue of this book! But, if you haven't seen the show or would not refer to yourself as a "gleek", then maybe this book is not for you.