Rumors

Summer Camp Secrets #6

by Katy Grant

Kayla tries to sort out fact from fiction in Rumors —but sometimes it’s hard to know which of her friends she can really trust! Readers will be delighted with the latest additions to this anthology series of summer camp–based coming-of-age stories.

256 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 2010

About the author

Katy Grant grew up in Tennessee and decided at age eight she wanted to be a writer after reading a biography of Louisa May Alcott. (But for some strange reason she never got around to reading Little Women until she was an adult.) For many years she taught composition and creative writing courses at university and community colleges. She currently lives in Arizona with her husband Eric and enjoys spending time with her two adult sons.

Reviews

[Arabella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its ok, but doesn't portray the mess that rumors make in real life.

[Mia Bartie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's such a good book. I've read it three times but it's a bit sad.

[Ludivine Maître · Rating 4 out of 5]

Franchement par rapport aux derniers que j’ai lu il était vachement bien (et pas aussi cringe)

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

This final book in the Summer Camp Secrets series introduces us to a twelve-year-old African-American girl named Kayla. She and her sister Samantha are moving with their parents from Maryland to Florida, and they're spending some time at camp while their parents pack up one house and move its contents to the other. While Samantha is excited for both camp and the move, Kayla is wary of both. She's just said a ton of goodbyes to her friends in Maryland - what's the point in making more friends if she's just going to lose them in a few weeks, too?

Her standoffish attitude, her brand-new camp clothes, and her secrecy and uncertainty about where she is from soon lead the other girls at camp to start talking about Kayla behind her back. Before long, it's all over camp that she's the daughter of a celebrity, and that she is super snobby. As the camp session wears on, more and more rumors start to fly, not just about Kayla, but other girls as well. Kayla and her new friend Laurel-Anne first suspect a girl named Boo, and then another girl named Katherine, but the true source of the rumors comes as a big shock.

I liked that this book focused on a reluctant camper, since that is one point of view not covered by the other volumes in the series. I also really enjoyed the mystery elements, and the fact that we are never certain until the very end who is spreading nasty lies about her fellow campers. As with all the other books, there are references here and there to characters we meet in other books, which adds another layer to each story and I actually wondered if the series ever intended to include more books, as there were some secondary characters mentioned who could easily have spun off to their own stories.

I'm glad the series ends here, though. There are only so many times I could stand to relive one summer, and this setting started to lose its luster for me halfway through this book. But like the other volumes in this series, Rumors covered a lot of situations that middle school girls often experience, this time dealing with the uglier side of enmity between girls. It also provided great strategies and advice for dealing with change as we grow up without being overtly preachy.

Overall, I really recommend this entire series. Not every series for kids is well-written - some of them are actually mass-produced trash - but this one has thorough character development, interesting, well-paced plots, and a highly appealing setting for camp veterans as well as those who have never gone to camp. If you're taking a ten-year-old on vacation with you this summer, definitely bring a few Summer Camp Secrets books too!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kayla and her little sister have to go to Camp Pine Haven, while their parents move to Florida. Kayla's little sister loves camp and makes friends as soon as she gets to camp. Kayla really doesn't want more friends that she will never see again. Soon Kayla hears rumors about her being spread around camp, so Kayla and her bunkmate Shelby try to find out who it is.

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has many surprises in it. Even though in the begining of the book is talking about how Kayla is not use to camp and see it as a waste of time. I think it is a good book for people about 10 to 12. Adults may think this is a predictable and childish book.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rumors, like the other books in the Summer Camp Secrets series, has a good camp setting, but there's certainly a lot of drama that drags on. The book's handling of race is a little underdeveloped, but the experience of moving multiple times while growing up is well-done.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a really good book. This series keeps me very into reading. It is a book you never want to put down!

[Alanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book so far because i love going to sleep away camp.
I cant wait to get farther into it