Moon Madness

Camp Sylvania #2

by Julie Murphy, Crystal Maldonado

Camp Moon Madness has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher.

Genres: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Horror, Fiction, Audiobook, Graphic Novels, Contemporary

Kindle Edition

Published May 14, 2024

About the author

Julie Murphy lives in North Texas with her husband who loves her and her cats who tolerate her. After several wonderful years in the library world, Julie now writes full-time.

When she’s not writing or reliving her reference desk glory days, she can be found watching made-for-TV movies, hunting for the perfect slice of cheese pizza, and planning her next great travel adventure.

She is also the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the young adult novels Dumplin’ (now a film on Netflix), Puddin’, Pumpkin, Ramona Blue, and Side Effects May Vary. Her middle grade novels include Dear Sweat Pea and a forthcoming 2023 title. She is also Disney's If The Shoe Fits, a modern day romcom retelling of Cinderella. Her writing partner is Sierra Simone and their romance debut is A Merry Little Meet Cute.

Julie has been featured in places liek Good Morning America, The New York Times, and Teen Vogue. Dumplin' was also named one of the best young adult books of all time by Time Magazine.

Reviews

[Raquel · Rating 5 out of 5]

If any one has similar book series like these please send me recs
Gives me nostalgia from growing up watching scooby doo and goosebumps ❤️

[Stephanie ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is out now.

I really enjoyed Camp Sylvania when I read it last year and I was excited to see that we were going back to camp again this year! And this time Julie called on a friend Crystal Maldonado, to make this a dual POV taking on the role of Nora, Maggie's best friend.

"What if your natural, best self sometimes doesn't feel good enough for other people?"
"Part of being yourself is not worrying about what other people think and still being confident in who you are."

Man oh man, even though I am pushing 40 and reading a middle grade book I could still feel like this book related to me even as an adult. Putting the paranormal aspect aside this book dealt with themes of growing friendships and the feelings of growing apart from your best friends. Nora sees Maggie with her camp friends from last year and can't help but to feel left out. And then the other side Maggie sees Nora connecting with her new roommate and her friends and feels like she is missing out on her life. I feel as if this especially in the age of technology and seeing friends doing this and that and feeling left out.

That aspect of the book I was really drawn to but with all that happening there was some tween wolf happening as well! Just like with the last one, it was fun and campy and I love how both authors incorporated this element within the book. And we also have Maggie experience her first crush and kiss!

I paired my reading with the audio and even though both narrators Katie Ladner and Victoria Villareal were good narrators, I felt their voices were too similar. I was happy that each chapter stated which POV we were in. The audio is a quick listen clocking in around 6 hours.

I am not sure if there will be another adventure at Camp Sylvania but I hope so!! I will read anything that Julie or Crystal read.

[TheNextGenLibrarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 2 in the Camp Sylvania MG series is out now by @andimjulie and @crystalwrote
🌑
After a summer full of vampires last year, Maggie and Nora are looking forward to a more normal camp experience, but upon arrival they immediately start noticing things aren’t what they seem. Maggie and Logan are obsessed with otherworldly events, exploring them even when Nora doesn’t want to. Nora is actually distracted by something different: moon water. It has the power to transform you. Zits, braces, and dull hair all gone with one sip! It’s provided to her by the new camp manager, Luna and when things go haywire for both girls, can they join forces and stop evil…again?!
🌑
This is such an adorable series! I’m so happy Crystal was able to add her voice to this one—it’s also her middle grade debut and I couldn’t be more excited to get it in my middle school library. It’s going to speak to many kids who love horror books but also are dealing with friend issues, growing up, crushes and self-confidence. I hope there are more to come in this series.

CW: issues of self-worth/confidence

[Alexis Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

book two in the camp sylvania series: moon madness by julie murphy & crystal maldonado 🌙

after a summer full of vampires last year, maggie and nora are looking forward to a more cliche summer camp experience. however, once they start noticing things out of the ordinary, can the girls stop evil again?

I’ve read a bunch of spooky middle grade books this year but there’s just something about this world that hits different! not only are they saving their summer from werewolves, deeper themes of navigating friendship issues, growing up, first crushes and self-confidence are prominent!

I’ll be drinking moon water in hopes there will be another book within this series! 4 stars 🐺

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun middle grade summer paranormal mystery/thriller sequel to the first Camp Sylvania book that can easily be read as a standalone and has some new and returning camp friends dealing with a whole new problem this year as the Camp Director has them taking moon waters and some even start turning into werewolves. Good on audio and perfect for fans of authors like Katherine Arden's Small Spaces series.

[Hannah | Reading Under Covers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love that Julie brought on another author to make this book a dual POV - I feel like you could really differentiate between the characters!

I also really enjoyed getting to see much more of Nora and Maggie’s friendship in this one!

The boy craziness was a bit much, but also expected 😅

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

After a disastrous summer with vampires in Camp Sylvania, the campers are given not only a voucher to attend the new and improved camp, but also a voucher for a friend. Maggie is thrilled to be able to bring her best friend Nora, who is in turn happy to be getting a break from her new stepdad Steve and stepbrother Darren, even though things are going fairly well with the new family. The two are prepared for a great camping experience, but upon arrival find that they are in separate cabins. One is bunking with Kit and Evelyn, and one has a cabin with just Claire, the daughter of Luna, the new camp director. Instead of a weight loss camp, Luna is running a earthy/crunchy holistic healing experience, and one of the first things that is done is to take all of the campers "synthetic" food and toiletries. Several of the campers do hang on to their acne cream! There are breathing workshops, sound baths, primal scream therapy, organic food, and Respectful Sage Burning. Luna's insistence on "moon water", a glowing water used for just about every purpose, gives Maggie and Nora pause, and even Claire admits that there were a few side effects, although none were particularly serious. When counselor Birdie starts to exhibit some odd symptoms, and these eventually spread to the campers, the campers know that this is yet another paranormally connected summer camp, and must work to wrestle control back from Luna. Will junk food and acne cream be their saviors?
Strengths: This is a perfect level of horror for late elementary school students, who might not have had a chance to go to summer camp but are very much looking forward to it. While Luna is not as evil as Sylvia, the director of the camp from the first book, there are still plenty of horrific things occuring that I don't want to spoil. The packing list that included different gems was a good indication of how this camp would work, and was a different approach than the "fat camp" setting in the first book. Maggie and Nora have realistic struggles with their friendship, and the secondary characters are pleasant and helpful. This isn't a graphic novel, although the cover might draw in fans of Sedita's The Pathfinder's Society.
Weaknesses: Chapters were from alternating points of view, and I had some difficulty telling Nora and Maggie apart. Also, it seemed odd that the girls would bring decorative lights, posters, and Squishmallows to camp for just a couple of weeks. There was also a lot of attention to fashionable clothing. Must be a posher camp than I ever attended!
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed The Devouring Wolf or LaRocca, Rajani and Baron's The Secret of the Dragon Gems, or other summer camp stories with supernatural elements.

[SOYAMRG · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best friends Maggie and Nora can’t wait for summer camp this year! Finally, they’ll get to spend their vacation together. But from the moment they arrive at Camp Sylvania, things start going wrong. Between different cabin assignments, camp counselors taking away anything “unnatural” kids brought with them (including their deodorant and zit cream!), and new tensions in their friendship, this isn’t shaping up to be the summer they’d planned. And that’s before paranormal concerns rear their head…

Maggie and Nora are believable tween protagonists—passionate, painfully self-conscious, and brimming with in-group jokes. The strain Maggie and Nora experience in their friendship due to diverging interests and friends is explored with nuance and sensitivity, as is Maggie’s burgeoning relationship with their fellow camper, Logan. Just as in the first entry in this series, body/self-image issues remain a throughline.

This book’s cover and description suggest that it is a summer camp-flavored supernatural horror story, but it’s more of a supernatural-flavored summer camp story. Although there are brief moments of suspense, they rarely last longer than a few paragraphs. Fans of the first book may be disappointed by the lower dramatic stakes of its sequel. However, if you have a middle grader reader in search of a not-too-spooky spooky book, this one may hit the spot.
Recommended as an optional purchase for ages 9-12.

[Note: Both Nora and Maggie are fat, as are many of their campmates. Nora and her mother read as Latinx, while Maggie reads as White. Captain B., a female camp counselor who was queer-coded in the first entry of this series, is revealed to be queer; she textually has a crush on Luna, the new camp manager.]

S.P.
Children's Librarian

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book well enough but it was not as strong as the first book in the series and, in a lot of ways, I feel like it was just a bit too much. I still gave it 4 stars because it was fun, the writing is good, and the characters are fun. The themes from the first book carry forward, and while they are well done, it feels repetitive. Maggie is a strong character and, while Nora gets an equal amount of page time in the alternating POVs, I tended to enjoy the Maggie parts just a little bit more. Maybe it was because she was more interested in the supernatural and the mystery and, as a result, got to do just a bit more fun stuff in terms of the plot.

I would say that, if you liked the first book, you will definitely enjoy this one. Not sure it can be a stand along because the story refers to too many things from the first book without really digging into them in a way that provides a full bridge. I would say that as a series, this is a great one for middle schoolers who want a bit of fun and mystery without it being really scary or mean.

I kind of hope that the series stops here. Not because I wouldn't read more books, but because I feel like you can really only do so many supernatural things at the camp. I can't imagine anyone would be ready to come back again after all that. Although, maybe the next books can be more about solving a mystery like Howie or the lake monster. And with that, I realize that these books remind me of Scooby Doo. In a good way!

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moon Madness is the second book to Camp Sylvania. Just like the first one Maggie and her friends are in for a summer camp experience. All those that had the Camp Sylvania experience have been invited back for a do-over. This years camp is run by owner Luna, who believes in natural, self rejuvenation and her newly discovered Moon Water, as she likes to call it, its properties will really transform you.

Without fully giving anything away, the title alone led me to what Maggie and her friends will be encountering during this camp summer read. That didn't take away from the story though. Flipping between Maggie and her best friend Nora we get both of their perspectives and how they are hoping camp will go this year. Nora wants a normal camp experience with no paranormal stuff and Maggie wants to see what other paranormal entities are true. Maggie and Nora's relationship is tested by new friendships, romantic firsts, self reflections and weird camp activities.

If you just want something simple and fun to read with a little paranormal thrown in then this sequel is for you. Especially if your looking for a new rejuvenation regime- I read Moon Water is just perfect for a whole new you!

[Keeley Malone · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Camp Sylvania so much when I read it last year and was so excited to see that there was a sequel to the summer of nightmares, that included a vampire takeover. Moon Madness was so much fun to read and such a great campy middle-grade novel.

Maggie, Logan and the rest of last year's Camp Sylvania crew are back at it again, spending their summer overcoming the challenges of being young teens and going through puberty, all while saving camp from the supernatural.

This year, Camp Sylvania has a new - non vampire - owner. Though the jet skis are yet again a no-go, the blob is out and though Luna (the new owner) seems a little odd. This summer is sure to be much better than last, especially because Maggie has her best friend, Nora, with her this year. But of course, things go a little differently than planned.

Nora is bunking with the owner's daughter, Luna. Maggie and Logan are set on finding evidence of the paranormal. The two best friends are being pulled in different directions all while weird things begins to happen at camp and wolf sightings begin to ramp up. Maggie and Nora are in for an interesting summer.

[Melissa Killian · Rating 4 out of 5]

An okay sequel to the original, this second installment of the Camp Sylvania series focuses on werewolves instead of vampires. The campers return to try and have a "normal" camp experience this year, but the new owner of the camp, Luna, has her own schemes going. Unlike Sylvia, who didn't care about the kids at all in the first book, Luna actually thinks she's helping them, which makes her a more complex villain. But I was disappointed that Kat and Evelyn, Maggie's bunkmates, were barely around when they played such a big part in the first book. And the clue of ghost Howie playing a song to get Maggie and Logan to realize that the problem they were dealing with was werewolves was a good idea, but the song that was used was a bit farfetched. I did not get werewolf out of that at all. Especially when there are songs that actually use werewolf or wolf in the title and/or lyrics. Otherwise, I'd say it's worth a read. Not sure if there will be more in this series because it would be a bit ridiculous for these kids to keep returning to this camp when they are constantly victimized by the supernatural.

[Christine LaBatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second Camp Sylvania book finds Maggie back at Camp Sylvania, this time with best friend Nora in tow. They are looking forward to being at camp together, but find themselves fighting more. However, things get weird when they keep seeing a wolf around, and Maggie learns the moonwater has consequences to using it.

Although it was not as good as the first, I still liked this sequel! It definitely was a lot heavier on the tween changes and drama rather than the paranormal, which is one of the reasons I liked it less. I do think the authors did a good job covering these subjects. I also wish it had been more full on werewolves instead of people just turning into wolves (semipermanently) and not changing back. Despite this, I still think this is a fun series, and I would definitely read another!

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid follow up to the first book. There was more focus on relationships and how they change, so be prepared for some “first kiss” drama and first camp dance fun! I really like how the author addressed this with Maggie discussing how last year/summer they were still playing dolls so when did it become now we worry about boys and kissing and such. Her friends response along the lines of “some of us are and some of us aren’t and it’s ok to go at your pace. Either way is ok.” Was quite nice and it’s nice to say that part out loud. It’s ok to want to hold onto your childhood- childhood is awesome! Growing up is what sucks kids, so seriously don’t be in such a rush, lol.

The alternating chapters between the friends was a nice touch too.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best friends Maggie and Nora can’t wait for summer camp this year! Finally, they’ll get to spend the summer together. But from the moment they arrive at Camp Sylvania, things start going wrong. Between different cabin assignments, camp counselors taking away anything “unnatural” kids brought with them (including their deodorant and zit cream!), and new tensions in their friendship, this isn’t shaping up to be the summer they’d planned. And that’s before paranormal concerns rear their head…

Maggie and Nora are believable tween protagonists—passionate, painfully self-conscious, and brimming with in-group jokes. The strain Maggie and Nora experience in their friendship due to diverging interests and friends is explored with nuance and sensitivity, as is Maggie’s burgeoning relationship with their fellow camper, Logan.

This book’s cover and description suggest that it is a summer camp-flavored supernatural horror story, but it’s more of a supernatural-flavored summer camp story. Although there are brief moments of suspense, they rarely last longer than a few paragraphs. Fans of the first book may be disappointed by the comparative tameness of its sequel. However, if you have a middle grader reader in search of a not-too-spooky spooky book, this one may hit the spot.

Recommended as an optional purchase for ages 9-12.

[Diversity Note: Both Nora and Maggie are fat, as are many of their campmates. Nora and her mother read as Latinx, while Maggie reads as White. Captain B., a female camp counselor who was queer-coded in the first entry of this series, is revealed to be queer; she textually has a crush on Luna, the new camp manager.]

Thanks to HarperCollins for the copy via the Southeast Ohio Young Adult Media Group.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summer is around the corner and what better way to kick it off than a middle grade campfire-worthy story.

Introducing Camp Sylvania—a summer camp horror series that’s guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your sleeping bag! 🌲⛺️ Imagine everything you loved about Welcome to Camp Nightmare, sprinkled with awesome friendships, body-positive messaging, and a hilarious take on adults that’ll have you reminiscing about how we saw them as kids - A super fun series to enjoy right alongside the young readers in your life.

🌙 Moon Madness: Round two of camp craziness is here! Maggie and Nora survived vampires at Camp Sylvania, but now it’s under new management. With the promise of a more chill experience, they give it another shot. However, strange occurrences and homemade “moon water” quickly turn their summer into a harry supernatural saga. Can they team up to save their friends, or is this summer destined for anything but normalcy?

I read both books in two days, this series is ★ ★ ★ ★ #ParksideReads approved, so pack your bags, grab your flashlight, and join Maggie on these hair-raising adventures! 📚

Thank you @theshelfstuff @andimjulie & @crystalwrote for the gifted copy.

[Ninke · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 stars!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading "Camp Sylvania: Moon Madness" by Julie Murphy. The story was engaging and filled with delightful little twists. However, I must admit that I found the first book in the series to be a little bit better in terms of plot development and character depth.

While some characters in "Moon Madness" were a bit annoying at times, it didn't disturb my reading experience too much. Overall, it's a fun and entertaining read that I would recommend to fans of the series. If you enjoyed the first book, you'll definitely find this one worth your time!

(Review written with the help of AI)

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A follow up to the first book in which the camp was turned into a blood farm using tweens at summer camp, the camp has transformed and welcomes back campers, new and improved. Except... there's another trap that the campers are falling in to and that's the health and wellness peddling of "moon water". The campers have to again band together to figure out what's happening and how to stop it.

It's a little unfocused, less focused than the first entertaining ride was, however the characters themselves are where the story is at.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two girls go to summer camp not knowing that instead of being run by a vampire as it was last year, it’s run by a crunchy lady and werewolves are going to factor in.

I almost stopped reading this in the beginning because of how well the authors managed to portray being an eighth grader, and I had no desire to relive that part of my life. But I pushed through and am glad I did; this was cute. My favorite way to spend a summer Shabbat is to read books in the sun, and this was a good start to the season.

[Angela Sandoval · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun one! I didn't think it had as strong of a paranormal mystery as the first book. Instead, it was heavier in the middle school drama: friendship issues, first crushes, etc. But it's an easy read, the characters are loveable and I did like the lesson that we all need to have self-confidence and be comfortable with who we are. I will definitely recommend this one to our middle school kiddos.

[Lauren Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

"But that's the thing about Camp Sylvania: it's always full of surprises." (244)

I thought this was cute continuation of the first book. It was a lot slower pace than the last book. I thought the ending was cute.

This was a quick read; as I rad it in a couple of hours.

I would recommend them to anyone YA; 12 +

[Amy Torcaso · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book. I enjoyed the first one more. Loved the return of main characters and the addition of new ones. Plotline including another paranormal crisis at summer camp. This was set up nicely for another one in the series. Great job

[Tamikan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was cute. I didn't enjoy it as much as the first one, but still a wonderful middle grade about accepting yourself for who you are.

[Kerri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love these books!

[BookLoverScar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gosh I hope this is a long series! I can’t wait to see what happens at camp next year!!!!

[Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 really. It was short and not a whole lot happened. Book 1 was way better.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I devoured the first book, and I was excited to see a sequel. In the end, it was alright, but the first was better.

[Elin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

*2