Camp Disaster

by Frieda Wishinsky

Charlotte Summers is sure that summer camp is going to be a disaster. And she’s right. But it’s not as disastrous for her as it is for her counselor, Abby. Abby has no control over the girls in her charge. The control is held by the cabin’s mean girl. Charlotte realizes that she could tip the balance of power and unseat the bully, but does she have the courage to go for it?

Genres: Young Adult

115 pages, Paperback

First published April 26, 2016

Reviews

[Shannon Rickert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Camp can be good or bad depending on who you bunk with. I just wish that Madison wouldn't have been a bugger the whole time and would have just said what was wrong. In the end it sorts its self out just wish it hadn't gone that far.

[Mehsi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A typical book about bullying with a typical ending.

Sorry, but I am supposed to feel sorry for Madison, because her life sucks? Oh, boohoohoohoohoo. Sorry, but no. I am quite a forgiving person, but bullies? No. So your life sucks? That means you can just be a bitch to everyone? That makes it right to just do shit like this? Oh no, girl, oh no it is not. I hate this kind of stuff. I wouldn't mind if the bully would see her way of errors herself without having to fall back on some bad stuff in her life. But I guess that rarely happens as writers just throw the sympathy card on bullies at the end. Oh boohoo, my life sucks, so I can make your life miserable as well, and oh hey, have sympathy for me, because I am so so so sad. *plays the tiniest violin and rolls her eyes*
I may have been more forgiving if I never have been bullied, but sorry, I have been bullied when I was kid/teen, and I will never have any sympathy for any of my bullies, not after all the shit they did. :| Never. So stories like this just make my eyes roll and make me want to throw the book. :|

Also really, doesn't anyone know that garlic is NOT for werewolves. Hello, that is vampires. Silver is for werewolves. Does anyone do any research? I could (kind of, very very kind of) imagine that Charlotte might not know, but Ellie? Who reads so much? Nah.

Ellie was definitely my favourite girl, she was funny, sweet, and I just adored the fact she was reading so much and that Madison apparently didn't want to screw with her.

Charlotte was pretty OK, and I quite like how she stood up to Madison. Even if it was difficult at times.

I did feel sorry for Abby, but I wonder why no one ever intervened from that camp. A counsellor from the camp is being bullied and apparently she is just supposed to do stuff herself? I had expected quite a few times that the head-counsellor (Nell) would pop by to do stuff, but nothing ever happens, and that just seems unrealistic.

I also missed the thing that I see so often in camp stories. Letters being send, letters received, packages coming in. Nothing like that happens, and that is such a shame. :(

So yeah, this book was quite a mixed bag. I really hated that they went with the sympathy/redemption card for Madison. But the parts in which we don't see Madison or much about the bullying were quite fun to read. I am not sure if I would recommend this one.

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com

[C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has a reading level of 2.0, which makes it the lowest reading level of the hi-lo books I've tried. Never until today did I appreciate how much skill it takes to write something of interest to teens, and with enough nuance to tackle serious problems, while staying within a fairly simplistic vocabulary and sentence structure. This author pulled it off well enough to hold my interest, even though the short sentences and simple words were mildly distracting.