Camp Famous
by Jennifer Blecher
Intermediate    Greenwillow    272 pp.   g
5/22    978-0-06-314068-4    $16.99
e-book ed.  978-0-06-314070-7    $9.99

Abby longs to leave the troubles of fifth grade behind for a typical overnight summer camp experience. Instead, her teacher, noticing Abby’s social troubles and unhappiness at school, finagles her a place at Camp Famous, where celebrity kids go to escape the pressure of the public eye. Finding herself among royalty, pop stars, children of social media influencers, science prodigies, and even Oliver—a classmate from school who, it turns out, does reporting for national news outlets—Abby feels self-conscious about being “regular” and pretends to be a best-selling author. Meanwhile, the famous kids all like Abby immediately—and she could develop close friendships were she not hindered by the false identity she has created. The atmosphere is idyllic: likable counselors in cozy cabins, a lake, evening campfires, loads of activity choices and free time blocks, and a tightknit group of campers with complicated lives and a desire for real connection. Abby’s first-person narration, alternating with journal entries in her green fuzzy notebook, builds as the summer of her dreams unfolds, until her secret comes out, upending everything. This enjoyable story of finding self-acceptance through a summer escape is ideal for veteran campers as well as for those who daydream about the experience—and the new friends they might make there.

From the July/August 2022 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.