May 13, 2025 by Random House Studio
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Bea is a 5th grader whose parents are divorcing, and who is taking great comfort in having conversations with her stuffed animals, especially Roger, a rabbit. When her father insists that she go to a sleepaway camp for a week because she needs to socialize, she balks, but when the deal is made that if she can stay a week, she won't have to go back, she reluctantly agrees. Her cabin mates are Roxy and Virginia, and they are upfront with her about how others will perceive her rabbit habit, but Bea is not shy about advocating for herself and telling them to leave her alone. When she takes Roger to the cafeteria, however, many people make fun of her, although there is one boy who is an upstander. Bea decides she is in love with the boy, Owen. Bea's counselor, Flower, is understanding when Bea sits out of activities so that she can spend time on her bunk with the stuffed animals. Virginia is also dealing with some sadness, since she didn't make the soccer team, and many of the girls who did are at the camp, and Roxy's parents are fighting at home, so she doesn't like the tension at camp. There's all kind of drama; Bea's diary is stolen and read aloud, Bea retaliates by not giving Virginia a friendship bracelet, and the girls constantly have tears in their eyes. Will they ever be able to come to an agreement to peacefully coexist?
Strengths: "Friend drama" is definitely a topic that my students like, and this had many levels of it. The inclusion of an imagined romance with a boy who is nice is a great age appropriate inclusion. Not many of my students get to attend summer camps, so it is always an interesting setting for a novel; a good way to have a vicarious experience. I haven't seen many books that address a student who is very attached to a stuffed animal, and I have seen that at school; last year, there was a girl who had a stuffed axolotl, and there was quite a hullabaloo when it went missing.
Weaknesses: I had concerns about Bea's mental health and had hoped she would get some help. There was very little adult intervention in all of the very mean behavior. The illustration style wasn't my favorite (it's slightly reminiscent of Amy Ignatow's The Popularity Papers), but the bright colors will still appeal to the target demographic.
What I really think: Fans of this author's The Equinox Test (School for Unusual Magic #1), or other emotionally fraught graphic novels about camp like Miller's Stuck, Christmas' Gamerville, or Brosgol's Be Prepared, or Smith, Tanner, Michael, and Gomez's Absolute Zeros: Camp Launchpad.
Strengths: "Friend drama" is definitely a topic that my students like, and this had many levels of it. The inclusion of an imagined romance with a boy who is nice is a great age appropriate inclusion. Not many of my students get to attend summer camps, so it is always an interesting setting for a novel; a good way to have a vicarious experience. I haven't seen many books that address a student who is very attached to a stuffed animal, and I have seen that at school; last year, there was a girl who had a stuffed axolotl, and there was quite a hullabaloo when it went missing.
Weaknesses: I had concerns about Bea's mental health and had hoped she would get some help. There was very little adult intervention in all of the very mean behavior. The illustration style wasn't my favorite (it's slightly reminiscent of Amy Ignatow's The Popularity Papers), but the bright colors will still appeal to the target demographic.
What I really think: Fans of this author's The Equinox Test (School for Unusual Magic #1), or other emotionally fraught graphic novels about camp like Miller's Stuck, Christmas' Gamerville, or Brosgol's Be Prepared, or Smith, Tanner, Michael, and Gomez's Absolute Zeros: Camp Launchpad.
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