Synopses & Reviews
- This high-interest, beginner-reader book is perfect for young readers ready to move up from picture books and for older students who are "reluctant readers."
- Keyword internet search using "reluctant reader" returned more than 112,000 references, demonstrating a demand for resources for teachers and parents.
- There are nearly 25 million children Grade k - 4 in the USA. (US Census Bureau, Census 2000)
- Like the Redpost series by Louis Sachar, and Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne, The Misadventures of Seldovia Sam series has established itself as a successful, award-winning series that continues to grow.
This exciting series continues with Sam dreading the looming first day of school where he fears his annual back-to-school essay about his summer's activities will not be as impressive as the know-it-all Melody Chambers's. For an end-of-summer adventure, Sam goes blueberry picking with his mom and best friend, Billy. He learns the hard way about safety and respect for wildlife when he has a face-to-face encounter with a bear cub, its protective mom close behind. Heroic dog, Neptune saves the day as she protects her masters after they are chased back into their truck. Find out if this exciting turn of events will make Sam's essay a grand prize winner.
Review
Beginning readers will enjoy Sam's adventures, because he always seems to find mischief, even when he has the best intentions. The illustrations bring Sam and his dog, Neptune, to life for readers and will help those struggling with the story to better understand it and the characters that Springer has created.
Sam is a delightful young person who will draw beginning chapter book readers into his rugged life in the Alaskan wilderness.
----Lynn Evarts, Book Reviews, Fore Word magazine
Review
Children's comments after reading the Seldovia Sam:
"It was scary and funny at the same time"
"The punishment that Sam received was fair..."
"I want to know more about Seldovia and Alaska"
"We want more adventures with Seldovia Sam."
Synopsis
Young readers love following this inquisitive eight-year-old and his trusty dog, Neptune, on misadventures that are full of fun, humor, suspense, and natural history, geography, and other lessons in life. This exciting series continues with Sam dreading the looming first day of school where he fears his annual back-to-school essay about his summer's activities will not be as impressive as the know-it-all Melody Chambers's. For an end-of-summer adventure, Sam goes blueberry picking with his mom and best friend, Billy. He learns the hard way about safety and respect for wildlife when he has a face-to-face encounter with a bear cub, its protective mom close behind. Heroic Neptune saves the day as she protects her masters after they are chased back into their truck. Find out if this exciting turn of events will make Sam's essay a grand prize winner.
Synopsis
"Alaska is so big that if you could lay it on top of the continental United States, it would cover one-fifth of all the other states. And there really is a place called Seldovia. It's about 250 miles south of Anchorage. But there are no roads to get there. To reach Seldovia you have to fly in a plane or take a boat. Some of the place-names in Sam's stories are real; others are made up. Like Sam's parents, lots of men and women in Seldovia fly Bush planes and fish commercially. Is there a real Sam Peterson in Seldovia? Not by that name. But there's a little bit of Sam in all the kids of Seldovia, just as I suspect there's a little bet of Sam in you." ---Susan Woodward Springer
About the Author
Susan Woodward Springer grew up in a fishing village on the coast of Maine. She attended college in Maine and Vermont, and moved to Alaska in 1985 where she developed the series, The Misadventures of Seldovia Sam. She loves the outdoors and spent many years exploring the backcountry around the real town of Seldovia, Alaska before relocating back to the continental United States.
Her previous publications include Seldovia, Alaska: An Historical Portrait of Life in Herring Bay (Blue Willow, Ind. 1997). And an environmental education color book commission in 1995 by Alyeska Pipeline Co. Her text and interactive pen pal program featuring Alaska schools, titled Alaska…Pure Poetry, is part of Alyeskas environmental education program and was selected by the Smithsonian Museum gift shop to complement the Alaska Pipeline exhibit. A portion of the authors proceeds from The Misadventures of Seldovia Sam have been earmarked for the Alaska Childrens Trust.
Susan Woodward Springer, an artist and writer currently lives in Boulder, Colorado.
Amy Meissner completed her undergraduate degrees in art and textiles in Nevada and spent several years as a clothing designer in the United States and Canada. Amy received a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at the University of Alaska Anchorage, while focusing on her artwork in her spare time. Besides her existing illustrations in the expanding series entitled, The Misadventures of Seldovia Sam, she has illustrated three other childrens books.
Amy Meissner currently lives and works in Anchorage, Alaska. Her two, bad orange cats keep her company in the studio all day long where she paints, draws, writes, cuts fabric, and moves cats off the things they aren't supposed to sleep on.