Escape from Camp Boring

by Tom Mitchell

A wild, laugh-out-loud adventure through the not-so-great outdoors, from the author of HOW TO ROB A BANK and THAT TIME I GOT KIDNAPPED. Ideal for readers aged 10 and up. After Will is caught listening to music on his phone in class again , his mum has had enough. Will is sent to a ‘rewilding’ camp in the middle of the woods for kids addicted to tech… Disaster. Not only is the camp a screen-free snooze-fest, Will realises he has accidentally taken something of his brother’s that he must return urgently. And with no way of contacting him, Will and his three new friends plot to escape the camp in the middle of the night, and embark on a ridiculous journey through the woods. The hapless heroes must make it back to civilisation in time to return Will’s smuggled cargo – and avoid being defeated by the great outdoors in the process…

Genres: Childrens

288 pages, Paperback

Published January 25, 2022

Reviews

[Gohnar23 (hiatus but still reading) · Rating 5 out of 5]

#️⃣3️⃣3️⃣8️⃣ Read & Reviewed in 2025 🏩🌷🦩
Date :💮 Friday, July 11, 2025 🌸🌸
Word Count📃: 50k Words 🧼💒

🦑 ⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆ 🍧

⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝ ♡ My 22th read in "Why is Kesha's latest album so good" 🩷 July

5️⃣🌟, phone 4ever
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Thank u @Prisha 4 da buddy read 🥰🩷🪅

Idk how the hell but this managed to be one of the most relatable reads ever. So we just have Will and his too much phone addiction (like me). He goes to a camp for tech addicts like him to...help him with his "addiction". Honestly its not even an addiction.

And then we meet many goofy characters that are just sooo unhinged like Alexa. "My name is Alexa Robertson and I’m addicted to sending email complaints."

R U 4 REAL BRO EMAILSSSSS?????!?!?!?!? WHO THE HELL IS ADDICTED TO EMAILS 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

and then there's two more characters and the 4 of them go through an adventure back to Will's house because the flash drive that he tries to sneak in to the camp is not actually his, it's from his brother whose in an art expedition that has many important art files. So all of them try to brainstorm ideas, go through ONE sleepness night, blackmail guards and ofcourse try to hide all of their tech from the camp councillor because duh tech is not allowed since this is a camp dedicated to kids addicted to technology and trees to help them overcome that so called "addiction" (its not reaally addiction bro).

Its very funny and fast paced with many times you just cant help but laugh. It IS such a boring camp that is probably more boring than actual camps because they literally dont do anything there.


Oh and to add to the relatableness...HE LISTENS TO "A TRIBE CALLED QUEST"

Underrated hiphop group listeners unite! He listens to A Tribe Called Quest just like me 😭😭😭 me & will are literally the same person bruh.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was actually read to me by my son, rather than by me. We both loved it. The characters were perfectly depicted. Definitely ones that he could relate to. The idea of being without tech horrified him, as a premise, which really set the scene for him.
There were lots of laugh-out-loud moments, and the heart-warming moments stopped just the right side of ‘cringe’ ( using my son’s word).
All in all, a great read to share and read out loud.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

This third book by the author is as funny as the previous two. Laugh out loud fun for children who enjoyed the other books too. The hero Will has been sent to a rewilding camp.in the middle of the woods to get over his phone addiction. Instead he has to take part in crafts like whittling instead - awful! But soon Will discovers that he has taken something of his brother’s by accident, and has to try to sneak home, in the dark, through the woods, with three equally hapless friends to help him. Their adventures in the woods are just hilarious, and students in your school will absolutely love this book. Highly recommended (along with the other two) for your shelves.

[Priya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really funny!
Though it is MG I enjoyed it a lot.

Will as the kid who is sent to a rewilding camp after being caught using his phone in school is hilarious as he tries to live without technology for 5 days with a group of other kids who have similar issues. His opinion of the camp head and the activities is wry and humorous.
When he realizes that he has inadvertently brought with him something belonging to his older brother, he has to give it back in time without getting caught escaping. Three other camp participants join him and their adventure begins.
Underlying the fun is the realization that they can have a great time even without being attached to devices!

[Lesley Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this more than my 10 year old, as she doesn't like 1st person narratives and said the tone was too informal. I thought it was a really good premise- the reason for the escape was a good one which meant we were rooting for them to succeed and there were plenty of exciting mishaps along the way. So annoying to have a main character called Alexa though, as ours kept thinking we were talking to her!

[Gabz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. It's a fun little read about a group of kids who become unlikely friends at an anti-tech camp. They make plans for a grand escape, but it doesn't quite work as they'd planned.
It's well paced and very entertaining, making me laugh out loud several times. Good stuff.

[Jessica Formosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

An adventuristic novel of a group of kids exiled and a forest camp without technology! The book so elaborately written on their Adventures and their Escape from this camp, only to succeed and returning back to it and being picked up by their parents as if nothing happened!

[LudmilaM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read!

[Benno Ldn · Rating 5 out of 5]

i’m nearly nine years old,and I loved reading this book. it was an funny adventure and I reccomend this.

[Lydia Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the fox and her cubs.

[Izzy C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Humorous, like an updated Gordon Korman. Could be a good choice to nudge a young reader towards after the Wimpy Kid books.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t love this book. It was a middle grade novel but it felt really young. It was a very quick read though, so I did finish it. It seemed like it could have had more details.