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Pen Pals #Super Special 2
Summer Sizzle
Vacationing at a coed summer camp, the Pen Pals experience love, rivalry, fear, and success as Max begins a romance with Paul, Amy begins an all-out battle of the sexes with Nikos, Palmer tries out for the camp play, and Shanon faces her fear of the water.Vacationing at a coed summer camp, the Pen Pals experience love, rivalry, fear, and success as Max begins a romance with Paul, Amy begins an all-out battle of the sexes with Nikos, Palmer tries out for the camp play, and Shanon faces her fear of the water
- GenresChildrens
176 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 30, 2016
I loved this series when I was young - can't remember the age that I was - perhaps 11-13. I just know I loved these books!
October 16, 2022
Pen Pals: Summer Sizzle
Plot: The Foxes of the Third Dimension will be spending three weeks at Emerald Lake, a camp in New Hampshire. Best of all the guys from Ardsley will be there too. To remember the experience, they’re going to put everything in a time capsule.
Shannon: Shannon finds out Mars broke his leg and can’t come to camp but she’s happy that he called her his favorite girl. The other girls in their cabin are Renee Quick, Reid Oliver, and Georgette. Shannon goes to the lake to write to Mars (and get away from Reid) and on the way, she bumps into Maggie (whose 7-month pregnant). She gives her the idea to have a baby naming contest since she and Dan haven’t decided on a name. Some of the things she tells Mars in the letter are she hopes Paul and Maxie get over their shyness, she’s scared to take the swimming test, and she’s terrified of the survival exercise Dan’s planning at the end of camp. Shannon is put over recording everything, which comes in handy on a camping trip to hide her fear of swimming. On the camping trip, she learns that Reid is trying to push up on Rob (and he doesn’t look like he’s resisting). Reid tells Shannon Rob is sick of Lisa whining about her parents and he’s gonna dump her. Coach Barker works with Shannon and finds out her fear of swimming came from getting stung by a jellyfish. She sees Reid coming on to Rob across the lake and tries to stop her and this gets her over her fear of the water. At the last day of camp, Shannon gives a viewing of the film she made at camp for Maxie (whose previously was upset because Shannon got a letter saying Lisa would be coming back and she was a little too excited). Maxie gets the message that she’s not being replaced. Mar surprises Shannon and will be there for one day and leave with them going back on the bus.
Max: Max wonders how do you know when you fall in love and asks Amy but she doesn’t have an answer. She wasn’t in love with John and she and Nikos aren’t serious yet (but she’s hoping that changes this summer). After calling a truce with Palmer (and apologizing to her about a not-so-nice comment about Reid) she thinks she spots Paul (but it isn’t him). She heads to the pool and after thinking about him Paul appears. After a little awkwardness, they plan all the same activities. On a picnic, Max and Paul get closer. They share a scary encounter on the grounds of a haunted house and a kiss. Paul meets with Maxie and shows her some of the pictures he took that have a blurry image in one of the windows. So they decide to investigate the house and find not a ghost but a baby bear.
Palmer: Palmer swears off boys and since all the other Foxes have plans hangs out with Reid doing clean up. The see a rate a list of the Ardsley’s name’s and one catch Palmer’s attention Holbrooke Wellington. Only Holbrooke turns out to be a geeky guy that’s infatuated with Palmer (and willing to do her chores). Holbrooke catches Reid and Palmer smoking (Palmer peer pressured by Reid) and says he won’t tell. But he asks them to sit with him at lunch. Palmer and Reid decide to ditch lunch and keep stringing him along. Palmer, Reid, Georgette, and Renee decide to go to Midas for the talent show and Palmer feels bad for Holbrooke and invites him to be in the play as a gorilla. Later he comes to her defense when Mrs. Grayson-Griffth catches Shannon, Palmer, and Reid with a pack of cigarettes. Palmer gets an anonymous love letter and thinks it’s from Nikos and convinces herself he only hangs around Amy to be around her. Only to find out Georgette wrote the letter for fear Palmer was getting an inferiority complex.
Amy: Nikos asks Amy to meet him at the mesh hall because there’s something he wants to ask her. But instead of asking her out, he tells her he traded 2 of his best players to have her on his softball team. While she’s flattered, on one hand, she feels odd because he made the decision without asking her. Then they have a heated disagreement about baseball teams. John (who earlier snubbed Amy) drags Nikos away to play ball with the guys (Even though he said a hurt elbow was the reason he couldn’t be on the team). Amy is left confused when she overhears John and Nikos saying girls don’t know ish about sports. Amy finds out at a game Nikos isn’t who she thought he was when he keeps substituting the girls for boys to pitch. Amy gets mad and challenges his team to a team of all the girls. Later during a food fight in the mesh hall she dumps a plate of spaghetti on his head. So now the girls and boys have an all out war (the guys doing things like short sheeting their beds and hanging their draws on the bulletin board). But Nikos and Amy make up when during a storm they’re sent to help Maggie. Amy gets attacked by wasps and Nikos comes to her rescue. The game gets called off because no one really cares about it (much like this plot). Amy thinks for a minute that Nikos is into Palmer but they finally get together on the survival part of camp.
Georgette: Georgette has made friends with Renee Quick. She’s still writing to Sam but he seems more interested in keeping tabs on Palmer. Renee advises her to loosen up. Georgette thinks Palmer has lost her self-confidence when she sees how much she’s letting her appearance go and her interest in boys. Georgette can’t have that because even though she says she’s over Sam, she might just find her way back to him. That is until she sees Palmer talking to Holbrooke. But Georgette thinks she’s just trying to see if she’s still got it. After Georgette tells Palmer she wrote the letter she tries to get it back from Nikos but he catches her. So she tells him it was for someone else and Palmer wasn’t trying to come on to him. She just wanted his help hooking her up with someone. He says ok and asks who the guy is.
My Thoughts: My Thoughts: I AM FINALLY DONE WITH THIS SERIES! This one was MEH! I read it at the same time as I re-read the Baby-Sitter’s Club Summer Vacation. I liked that one better. There’s another one I remembered that was slightly better when it comes to camp books. It was called Buddies and was in the Especially For Girls series.
Amy’s was the worst. Sports drama that even the other girls weren’t interested in over Niko’s. Nikos really didn’t leave all that great an impression on me, but at least he and Amy had some FIRE. I especially liked when she dumped the plate of spaghetti on his head. It was more interesting than the back-and-forth arguments over who's more superior in sports.
Shannon’s wasn’t interesting because half her story was of her fear of swimming and the other she was sweating Rob and Reid. Which I honestly didn’t care about either way if Rob did or did not hook up with Reid. And when he needed Shannon’s help he approached her. Shannon didn’t even think enough of Rob to trust that he wouldn’t play Lisa.
Didn’t really care either about the Lisa and Maxine drama. Maxine and Paul, I guess was supposed to be the *romance* in the story. It was a little interesting that they snuck into the haunted house and had a scare, but the slow, shy, stalling, just didn’t move me.
And Palmer's antics, I’m just OVER! I don’t think other than Shannon, there isn’t one of her suite-mates pen pals that she hasn’t tried to steal. And then they tried to make us feel sympathy for her because no guys paying her attention to her. Then she tries to put up a front like she’s over guys because they’re over her. I didn’t even feel anything when it made it seem like she *might* in the future consider Holbrooke as someone she’d date because I know she WONT. She’s a materialistic, gold-digger and she has NO REDEEMING QUALITIES other than the time she gave her clothes away.
\Rating: 5
Plot: The Foxes of the Third Dimension will be spending three weeks at Emerald Lake, a camp in New Hampshire. Best of all the guys from Ardsley will be there too. To remember the experience, they’re going to put everything in a time capsule.
Shannon: Shannon finds out Mars broke his leg and can’t come to camp but she’s happy that he called her his favorite girl. The other girls in their cabin are Renee Quick, Reid Oliver, and Georgette. Shannon goes to the lake to write to Mars (and get away from Reid) and on the way, she bumps into Maggie (whose 7-month pregnant). She gives her the idea to have a baby naming contest since she and Dan haven’t decided on a name. Some of the things she tells Mars in the letter are she hopes Paul and Maxie get over their shyness, she’s scared to take the swimming test, and she’s terrified of the survival exercise Dan’s planning at the end of camp. Shannon is put over recording everything, which comes in handy on a camping trip to hide her fear of swimming. On the camping trip, she learns that Reid is trying to push up on Rob (and he doesn’t look like he’s resisting). Reid tells Shannon Rob is sick of Lisa whining about her parents and he’s gonna dump her. Coach Barker works with Shannon and finds out her fear of swimming came from getting stung by a jellyfish. She sees Reid coming on to Rob across the lake and tries to stop her and this gets her over her fear of the water. At the last day of camp, Shannon gives a viewing of the film she made at camp for Maxie (whose previously was upset because Shannon got a letter saying Lisa would be coming back and she was a little too excited). Maxie gets the message that she’s not being replaced. Mar surprises Shannon and will be there for one day and leave with them going back on the bus.
Max: Max wonders how do you know when you fall in love and asks Amy but she doesn’t have an answer. She wasn’t in love with John and she and Nikos aren’t serious yet (but she’s hoping that changes this summer). After calling a truce with Palmer (and apologizing to her about a not-so-nice comment about Reid) she thinks she spots Paul (but it isn’t him). She heads to the pool and after thinking about him Paul appears. After a little awkwardness, they plan all the same activities. On a picnic, Max and Paul get closer. They share a scary encounter on the grounds of a haunted house and a kiss. Paul meets with Maxie and shows her some of the pictures he took that have a blurry image in one of the windows. So they decide to investigate the house and find not a ghost but a baby bear.
Palmer: Palmer swears off boys and since all the other Foxes have plans hangs out with Reid doing clean up. The see a rate a list of the Ardsley’s name’s and one catch Palmer’s attention Holbrooke Wellington. Only Holbrooke turns out to be a geeky guy that’s infatuated with Palmer (and willing to do her chores). Holbrooke catches Reid and Palmer smoking (Palmer peer pressured by Reid) and says he won’t tell. But he asks them to sit with him at lunch. Palmer and Reid decide to ditch lunch and keep stringing him along. Palmer, Reid, Georgette, and Renee decide to go to Midas for the talent show and Palmer feels bad for Holbrooke and invites him to be in the play as a gorilla. Later he comes to her defense when Mrs. Grayson-Griffth catches Shannon, Palmer, and Reid with a pack of cigarettes. Palmer gets an anonymous love letter and thinks it’s from Nikos and convinces herself he only hangs around Amy to be around her. Only to find out Georgette wrote the letter for fear Palmer was getting an inferiority complex.
Amy: Nikos asks Amy to meet him at the mesh hall because there’s something he wants to ask her. But instead of asking her out, he tells her he traded 2 of his best players to have her on his softball team. While she’s flattered, on one hand, she feels odd because he made the decision without asking her. Then they have a heated disagreement about baseball teams. John (who earlier snubbed Amy) drags Nikos away to play ball with the guys (Even though he said a hurt elbow was the reason he couldn’t be on the team). Amy is left confused when she overhears John and Nikos saying girls don’t know ish about sports. Amy finds out at a game Nikos isn’t who she thought he was when he keeps substituting the girls for boys to pitch. Amy gets mad and challenges his team to a team of all the girls. Later during a food fight in the mesh hall she dumps a plate of spaghetti on his head. So now the girls and boys have an all out war (the guys doing things like short sheeting their beds and hanging their draws on the bulletin board). But Nikos and Amy make up when during a storm they’re sent to help Maggie. Amy gets attacked by wasps and Nikos comes to her rescue. The game gets called off because no one really cares about it (much like this plot). Amy thinks for a minute that Nikos is into Palmer but they finally get together on the survival part of camp.
Georgette: Georgette has made friends with Renee Quick. She’s still writing to Sam but he seems more interested in keeping tabs on Palmer. Renee advises her to loosen up. Georgette thinks Palmer has lost her self-confidence when she sees how much she’s letting her appearance go and her interest in boys. Georgette can’t have that because even though she says she’s over Sam, she might just find her way back to him. That is until she sees Palmer talking to Holbrooke. But Georgette thinks she’s just trying to see if she’s still got it. After Georgette tells Palmer she wrote the letter she tries to get it back from Nikos but he catches her. So she tells him it was for someone else and Palmer wasn’t trying to come on to him. She just wanted his help hooking her up with someone. He says ok and asks who the guy is.
My Thoughts: My Thoughts: I AM FINALLY DONE WITH THIS SERIES! This one was MEH! I read it at the same time as I re-read the Baby-Sitter’s Club Summer Vacation. I liked that one better. There’s another one I remembered that was slightly better when it comes to camp books. It was called Buddies and was in the Especially For Girls series.
Amy’s was the worst. Sports drama that even the other girls weren’t interested in over Niko’s. Nikos really didn’t leave all that great an impression on me, but at least he and Amy had some FIRE. I especially liked when she dumped the plate of spaghetti on his head. It was more interesting than the back-and-forth arguments over who's more superior in sports.
Shannon’s wasn’t interesting because half her story was of her fear of swimming and the other she was sweating Rob and Reid. Which I honestly didn’t care about either way if Rob did or did not hook up with Reid. And when he needed Shannon’s help he approached her. Shannon didn’t even think enough of Rob to trust that he wouldn’t play Lisa.
Didn’t really care either about the Lisa and Maxine drama. Maxine and Paul, I guess was supposed to be the *romance* in the story. It was a little interesting that they snuck into the haunted house and had a scare, but the slow, shy, stalling, just didn’t move me.
And Palmer's antics, I’m just OVER! I don’t think other than Shannon, there isn’t one of her suite-mates pen pals that she hasn’t tried to steal. And then they tried to make us feel sympathy for her because no guys paying her attention to her. Then she tries to put up a front like she’s over guys because they’re over her. I didn’t even feel anything when it made it seem like she *might* in the future consider Holbrooke as someone she’d date because I know she WONT. She’s a materialistic, gold-digger and she has NO REDEEMING QUALITIES other than the time she gave her clothes away.
\Rating: 5
December 16, 2019
I quite enjoyed this one and the different viewpoints to show the progression of the story. I would have liked to have seen more from Maxie’s POV though.
May 1, 2024
🖋️✉️ Beautiful illustration of connection through writing letters. A heartwarming journey celebrating the magic of human connection across distances. 🌟
June 28, 2012
I decided to read this book because I had already read a lot of the other pen pals books and wanted to continue the series. My favourite quote from this book is "“MUST ADD QUOTE HERE" Something new I learned from this book was that summer can be fun as long as you have friends and peoples you love around you. Overall friendship is strong. A setting in this book that I found interesting was the camp. This is because of all the different scenery that was explained. There was also a lot of different places where significant events happened in the book. This book fills the category of "TO BE ADDED" on my bingo board
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews