May 14, 2024 by Random House Graphic
E ARC provided by Netgalley
Maya is glad that the school year is over, because she has struggled to make friends, but the summer doesn't promise to be much better. Her father has been dating Charlotte, who seems perfectly nice, but when the two announce that Charlotte will be moving in with them, Maya is not pleased. She feels that she won't have quality time with her father and that he will ignore her to spend time with Charlotte, a feeling that is reinforced when she makes a lovely garlic pasta following her favorite YouTuber, Kiki Cooks, instructions and they pass this over in favor of pizza. When Charlotte arranges for Maya to go to culinary camp for the summer, she's thrilled. Unfortunately, she gets on the wrong bus, with her suitcase packed full of things like a crepe making set! Even worse is the fact that all of the campers heading to Camp Dracula are vampires, complete with pointy ears, fangs, and a decided need to use lots of sunscreen. Maya is angry at Charlotte, feeling that she scheduled the wrong camp, but tries to keep herself safe. She doesn't tell her cabin mates the truth, and eventually starts to develop friendships with them, even helping Nico steal his phone back from the counselors. Of course, part of this plot was meant to get her own phone back so that she could call her father and have him come and save her, but this falls through. Alex starts to be nice to her, Maya manages to work with the camp cook to get her culinary fix, and there's even an epic food fight in the cafeteria. When the others learn the truth (Maya doesn't drink any of the blood juice boxes, even though who wouldn't want a pork flavored one? Ew.), they try to sneak her across the lake to Camp Umami, which she was supposed to attend. Once there, Maya realizes that she has already made friends, and since she is no danger, she might as well stay at Camp Dracula.
Strengths: I loved that Maya realizes that Charlotte is not horrible, and that she actually misses her during the summer. Including more positive spins on blended families would be a good direction for middle grade literature in general, especially since blended families are far more common than parents passing away. The camp is fun, and the campers have a lot of freedom to do different projects. The characters are delightfully quirky, but kind to each other in the end. There is no threat from the vampires, although Maya is on her guard.
Weaknesses: I'm all for readjusting the parameters of vampire behavior, but I WOULD like to see the spelled out more clearly. This played a little fast and loose with vampire "rules", which I do enjoy. They can go out in the sun, but it's mildly uncomfortable without sunscreen. They don't have reflections, but they can go in the water, which would destroy the entire plot of Rees' classic Vampire High.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed the twists on vampire lore in Birchall's How Not to Be A Vampire Slayer or Murphy's graphic novel Camp Sylvania.
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