As summer winds down and we start looking to head back to school, we are going to take one last fun look at summer. So, pack your bags, we are going to take a quick trip to summer camp! Make sure you have everything you need, bathing suit, towel, sleeping bag, and of course, a flashlight.
This month we have a great range of reads and settings, from fantasy, to camp fires and smores, swimming in the lake, sports camps, and more! Summer camp is the ultimate summer experience and we found the best of what RPL has to offer for this end of summer review!
And the best part about these books? You get to experience it all without a single mosquito bite! So gather up your smore supplies, a flashlight, and a blanket and enjoy your summer camp experience in the comfort of your own home!
Dragon Mountain
Katie & Kevin Tsang
When 12-year-old Billy Chan finds out his parents are sending him to a language and culture camp in the middle-of-nowhere China, he can’t imagine anything worse. He’s not expecting to become friends with fellow campers Dylan O’Donnell, Charlotte Bell, and Liu Ling-Fei. And he’s definitely not planning to meet any dragons. But when the four kids accidentally open a crack in an ancient mountain, they become involved in an ages-old struggle of good versus evil. Now it’s up to them to save the Dragon Realm–if they don’t, the world as they know it might disappear forever.
Spy Camp
Stuart Gibb
Ben Ripley is a middle schooler whose school is not exactly average—he’s spent the last year training to be a top-level spy and dodging all sorts of associated danger. So now that summer’s finally here, Ben would like to have some fun and relax. But that’s not going to happen during a required spy survival training at a rustic wilderness camp, where SPYDER, an enemy spy organization, has infiltrated the spies’ ranks. Can Ben root out the enemy before it takes him out—for good?
The Firefly Summer
Morgan Matson
For as long as Ryanna Stuart can remember, her summers have been spent with her father and his new wife. Just the three of them, structured, planned, quiet. But this summer is different.
This summer, she’s received a letter from her grandparents-grandparents neither she nor her dad have spoken to since her mom’s death-inviting her to stay with them at an old summer camp in the Poconos. Ryanna accepts. She wants to learn about her mom. She wants to uncover the mystery of why her father hasn’t spoken to her grandparents all these years. She’s even looking forward to a quiet summer by the lake. But what she finds are relatives… SO MANY MORE RELATIVES than she knew she had. Aunts and Uncles and cousins upon cousins-a motley, rambunctious crew of kids and eccentric, unconventional adults. Lost in the crush of such a tight-knit and boisterous band, Ryanna has never felt more out of place.
It’s over the course of this utterly astonishing summer that Ryanna will need to learn how to be open to the unexpected, let go of the preconceived, and find where she belongs. And while she’s at it, she just may find a way to become part of the Van Camp family camp-for good
To Night Owl From Dogfish
Holly Goldberg Sloan & Meg Wolitzer
Avery Bloom, who’s bookish, intense, and afraid of many things, particularly deep water, lives in New York City. Bett Devlin, who’s fearless, outgoing, and loves all animals as well as the ocean, lives in California. What they have in common is that they are both twelve years old, and are both being raised by single, gay dads.
When their dads fall in love, Bett and Avery are sent, against their will, to the same sleepaway camp. Their dads hope that they will find common ground and become friends–and possibly, one day, even sisters.
But things soon go off the rails for the girls (and for their dads too), and they find themselves on a summer adventure that neither of them could have predicted. Now that they can’t imagine life without each other, will Bett and Avery (who sometimes call themselves Night Owl and Dogfish) figure out a way to be a family?
Unplugged
Gordon Korman
As the son of the world’s most famous tech billionaire, spoiled Jett Baranov has always gotten what he wanted. So when his father’s private jet drops him in the middle of the Arkansas wilderness, at a place called the Oasis, Jett can’t believe it. He’s forced to hand over his cell phone, eat grainy veggie patties, and participate in wholesome activities with the other kids, who he has absolutely no interest in hanging out with.
As the weeks go on, Jett starts to get used to the unplugged life and even bonds with the other kids over their discovery of a baby-lizard-turned-pet, Needles. But he can’t help noticing that the adults at the Oasis are acting really strange.
Drum Roll, Please
Lisa Jenn Bigelow
Melly only joined the school band because her best friend, Olivia, begged her to. But to her surprise, quiet Melly loves playing the drums. It’s the only time she doesn’t feel like a mouse. Now she and Olivia are about to spend the next two weeks at Camp Rockaway, jamming under the stars in the Michigan woods.
But this summer brings a lot of big changes for Melly: her parents split up, her best friend ditches her, and Melly finds herself unexpectedly falling for another girl at camp. To top it all off, Melly’s not sure she has what it takes to be a real rock n’ roll drummer. Will she be able to make music from all the noise in her heart?
Take It From the Top
Claire Swinarski
Eowyn Becker has waited all year to attend her sixth summer at Lamplighter Lake Summer Camp. Here, the pain of her mom’s death can’t reach her, and she gets to reunite with her best friend, Jules Marrigan–the only person in the world who understands her. To top it off, Wicked –the girls’ favorite musical–has been chosen for the camp’s end-of-year production. If anyone can be Glinda to Eowyn’s Elphaba, it’s Jules!
But when Eowyn arrives at camp, everything seems wrong in this compelling coming of age story. The best-friend reunion Eowyn had been dreaming of doesn’t go as planned. Jules will barely even look at Eowyn, let alone talk to her, and Eowyn has no idea why.
Well, maybe she does…
There are two sides to every story, and if you want to understand this friends to enemies tale, you’ll need to hear both. Told in a series of alternating chapters that dip back to past summers, the girls’ story will soon reveal how Eowyn and Jules went from being best friends to fierce rivals. Can they mend ways before the curtains close on what was supposed to be the best summer of their lives
Ham Helsing: Monster Hunter
Rich Moyer
After an invitation to “peaceful” Camp Fish Head Lake, Ham and his buddies arrive expecting to be guests of honor. But there are no staff to be seen, and with kids (and their overprotective parents) arriving, they decide to just go with the flow. How hard can it be to keep a few kids out of trouble?
But the camp turns out to be not so monster-free–and definitely not the kind of lake you want to go fishing in! Ham and his friends have their hands full as campers start to go missing and will have to work together and trust each other to figure out what’s going on–especially when old foes return.
Summer at Squee
Andrea Wang
Phoenny Fang plans to have the best summer ever. She’s returning to Summertime Chinese Culture, Wellness, and Enrichment Experience (SCCWEE for short and “Squee” to campers in the know), and this year she’s a senior camper. That means she; her best friend, Lyrica Chu; and her whole Squad will have the most influence. It almost doesn’t matter that her brother is a CIT (counselor-in-training) and that her mom and auntie are the camp directors. Time spent at Squee is sacred, glorious, and free.
On the day Phoenny arrives, though, she learns that the Squad has been split up, and there’s an influx of new campers this year. Phoenny is determined to be welcoming and to share all the things she loves about camp-who doesn’t love spending hours talking about and engaging in cultural activities? But she quickly learns how out of touch she is with others’ experiences, particularly of the campers who are adoptees. The same things that make her feel connected to her culture and community make some of the other campers feel excluded.
Camp Quiltbag
Nicole Melleby
Twelve-year-old Abigail (she/her/hers) is so excited to spend her summer at Camp QUILTBAG, an inclusive retreat for queer and trans kids. She can’t wait to find a community where she can be herself–and, she hopes, admit her crush on that one hot older actress to kids who will understand.
Thirteen-year-old Kai (e/em/eir) is not as excited. E just wants to hang out with eir best friend and eir parkour team. And e definitely does not want to think about the incident that left eir arm in a sling–the incident that also made Kai’s parents determined to send em somewhere e can feel like emself.
After a bit of a rocky start at camp, Abigail and Kai make a pact: If Kai helps Abigail make new friends, Abigail will help Kai’s cabin with the all-camp competition. But as they navigate a summer full of crushes, queer identity exploration, and more, they learn what’s really important. Camp QUILTBAG is a heartfelt story full of the joy that comes from being and loving yourself.
Gamerville
Johnnie Christmas
A video gamer’s championship aspirations are dashed when his parents send him to Camp Reset, where electronics are forbidden and you’re forced to socialize, eat healthy, and spend time outside. Gamerville is a timely and vulnerable exploration of the importance of human connection and what it means to run in a pack, brought to you by award-winning author Johnnie Christmas.
Max Lightning is howling at the moon–he’s finally qualified for Gamerville, a championship where players compete to be top dog in the multiplayer video game Lone Wolf of Calamity Bay. In Calamity Bay, he can do anything, be anyone, and most importantly, make his own choices, unlike the real world where there are rules and regulations seemingly everywhere. But his dreams of domination are doomed when his parents send him to Camp Reset. Gone are the long nights of downing energy drinks and getting copious amounts of screen time. They’ve been replaced with fresh air and group activities under the hot sun–a shock to the system for a lone wolf like Max. Can Max escape Camp Reset and level up at Gamerville, or has he finally played his last match?
Summer Vamp
Violet Chan Karim
After a lackluster school year, Maya anticipates an even more disappointing summer. The only thing she’s looking forward to is cooking and mixing ingredients in the kitchen, which these days brings her more joy than mingling with her peers . . . that is until her dad’s girlfriend registers her for culinary summer camp! Maya’s summer is saved! . . . or not.
What was meant to be a summer filled with baking pastries and cooking pasta is suddenly looking a lot . . . paler?! Why do all of the kids have pointy fangs? And hate garlic? Turns out that Maya isn’t at culinary camp-she’s at a camp for VAMPIRES! Maya has a lot to learn if she’s going to survive this summer . . . and if she’s lucky, she might even make some friends along the way.
Camp
Kayla Miller
Olive and Willow are happy campers!
Or are they?
Olive is sure she’ll have the best time at summer camp with her friend Willow–but while Olive makes quick friends with the other campers, Willow struggles to form connections and latches on to the only person she knows–Olive. It’s s’more than Olive can handle! The stress of being Willow’s living security blanket begins to wear on Olive and before long…the girls aren’t just fighting, they may not even be friends by the time camp is over. Will the two be able to patch things up before the final lights out?
Silver Meadows Summer
Emma Otheguy
Eleven-year-old Carolina’s summer–and life as she knows it–is upended when Papi loses his job, and she and her family must move from Puerto Rico to her Tia Cuca and Uncle Porter’s house in upstate New York.
Now Carolina must attend Silver Meadows camp, where her bossy older cousin Gabriela rules the social scene. Just as Carolina worries she’ll have to spend the entire summer in Gabriela’s shadow, she makes a friend of her own in Jennifer, a fellow artist.
Carolina gets another welcome surprise when she stumbles upon a long-abandoned cottage in the woods near the campsite and immediately sees its potential as a creative haven for making art. There, with Jennifer, Carolina begins to reclaim the parts of the life she loved in Puerto Rico and forget about how her relationship with Mami has changed and how distant Papi has become.
But when the future of Silver Meadows and the cottage is thrown into jeopardy, Carolina and–to everyone’s surprise–Gabriela come up with a plan to save them. Will it work?
Emmie & Friends: Entirely Emmie
Terri Libenson
These days, Emmie doesn’t feel so invisible. At least not around her best friends and her crush, Tyler.
Class-clown Joe’s jokes aren’t landing the way they used to. Who doesn’t love a good prank? Apparently not his so-called friends, who don’t even seem to care if he’s around.
When their class goes on an end-of-year camping trip, Emmie and Joe find themselves stuck together–and expect the worst. But what happens instead turns out to be entirely un expected.
