The Summer I Shrank My Grandmother by Elvira Woodruff

Lexile Level: 740, Grade Level: 3-6

“The Summer I Shrank My Grandmother” by Elvira Woodruff, c1990, is a funny book. I really enjoyed it. Nelly Brown is a girl who wants to be a scientist when she grows up. Her parents are also scientists. Nelly is always performing science experiments. However, she sometimes gets into trouble when the experiments don’t go right. It is the summertime and Nelly’s parents are going on a work vacation to New York. Nelly, however, decides not to go with them but to instead join her grandmother, Emma Brown, at a rented cabin on the seashore. While there, Nelly discovers an ancient looking chemistry set called “McFinney’s Powerful Potions”. With this set, the experimenter is granted one powerful wish. Since Nelly’s grandmother is getting so old, Nelly decides that she will make her grandmother younger. She does but unfortunately her grandmother keeps getting younger and younger, so young that Nelly is afraid she may disappear and she won’t have a grandmother anymore! Read this story to find out what happens!

Submitted by Karin