

She is also a sucker for dares so things that she normally wouldn't try become competitions. Besides she doesn't know how and hates to admit when she is ignorant. Since she has no attachment to her dad or his family, she can't understand why she should help out with the chores. Amy has never had a pet so even the dogs are frightening. The moshav raises sheep which is strange to a city girl.

Unfortunately, she and her cousin, Osnat, with whom she must share a bedroom, dislike each other at first glance. Her grandmother touches her heart from the beginning. Once there they drive to the moshav, a close knit community, where Amy's aunt, uncle, cousins, and Safia, her grandmother live. She would have said ' no thanks,' but her mother steps in and before she knows it she is on a flight to Tel Aviv instead of tennis camp.

Amy only hears from her dad once a year on her birthday and didn't even know she had a living grandmother. Now sixteen years later, Amy's dad wants to take her to Israel to meet her grandmother. Two college students get together for one night and Amy Nelson Barak is the result. How to Ruin a Summer Vacation by Simone Elkeles
