[Eric]

did you try pre-teaching any of the vocab in the book before you started teaching the book. sometimes you could spend a whole day/lesson (maybe more) just pre-teaching what the students are going to be reading about.

in your example, i might start with making sure the kids understand what 'vacation' and 'summer' is. if they know that, move on to more difficult vocab from the book.

play games with the vocab &/or structure (present, past tense, etc..). make sure the students really have a good feel for what they are going to be getting into. this could take 30 minutes or 3 classes. no need to rush into the book when everyday you pre-teach the material for the book is a great learning for the kids.

once you feel like the students are ready for the vocab and structure of the book, read it once together and get a sense of their understanding of it. ask comprehension questions as you go like 'where did she go on her summer vacation?' and 'What did she do?'. if they aren't getting it, stop reading and pre-teach some more or move to an easier book. you don't want to ruin reading for them.

after you have successfully got through the book then you can do book reports, quizzes, storyboard drawings, etc...

i hope this helps
eric