Very relatable for students in middle level grades. In this book Eleanor is off to camp and while she is not happy with a lot of the things there she finds the best in it eventually. ( )

Recommended Ages: Gr. 3-5

Plot Summary: Eleanor has heard stories about sleepaway camp from her friend Katie, and her Grandma Sadie is giving her a chance to go to the very same camp her mom went to. Eleanor and her mom label and pack all of her stuff and she's starting to get a little worried. What will she do without her mom? Eleanor and her mom come up with a plan: if Eleanor really needs to come home, she'll write home "I just met Esmeralda" and her parents will come get her. Off she goes to camp, riding the bus next to Joplin who is also a Gypsy Moth. The other girls don't seem to like Joplin but Eleanor is unsure of herself and sticks with confident Joplin. They meet Hope and walk on a tough path through the woods to their cabin. Eleanor trips on a root and scrapes herself. Once in their cabin, she gets a bandaid on her chin and attempts to make the bed. Thankfully Joplin helps her because it "looks like bears fought up there." At lunch time, the food looks disgusting. All Eleanor eats is salad. Even worse, she finds out it's a candy-free camp! Next all of the girls take a swimming test. Eleanor is the worst in the group and has to be a guppy, like the little kids. She's not sure camp could get any worse. Should she use the secret code and go home? She really wants to!

Setting: Brooklyn, NY & Camp Wallumwahpuck

Characters:
Eleanor - 9 y/o
Grandma Sadie - pays for Eleanor to go to camp
Katie - Eleanor's friend that went to sleepaway camp and shared tales of riding horses, jumping on a floating trampoline, earning trophies for diving, and eating M&Ms
Pearl - Eleanor's best friend, visits her grandparents in Oregon every summer
Natalie - Eleanor's babysitter
Joplin - 9 y/o, very tall girl with glasses, has a baby brother who cries a lot because she sleeps most of the way, outgoing but gets made fun of by other girls
Hope - summer counselor

Recurring Themes: independence, separation from parents, sleep away camp, friendship, bullying

Controversial Issues: none

Personal Thoughts: Very well written. Engaging, authentic, easy to feel sympathy for Eleanor. I really liked it.

Genre: realistic fiction

Pacing: fast, mostly dialogue and also written in verse, but each line is about half the page
Characters: authentic and realistic
Frame:
Storyline:

Activity: ( )

I was reading this novel as a consideration on Vermont's Children's Book Award List, which is curated for students in grades 4-8. And as much as I enjoyed this book, in the end, I think it is just too young for them. This book is a delight and has lingered with me after reading it, but it would be perfectly suited for readers 2-4 grade, readers who are beginning to earn their wings as independent readers. Sweet illustrations within the story add to its fun. This is the second book in a budding new series, but works as a stand-alone. That said, I am ordering both of them for my school library and look forward to more books in the series. ( )

Story about Eleanor, who goes to camp for the first time and hates it. She experiences a range of emotions: excitment, nervousness, sadness, scared, proud, etc. during her stay at camp. Easy to read, split into short chapters and written in prose. Illustrations add to the story, descriptive language makes it easy to picture what is happening. Plenty of action to keep the story moving along. Grade 2-4. ( )

I had issues with the first book in this series, Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie. Someone did later point out to me "well, duh the text is choppy, it's free verse." My opinion is that reformatting text into looking like poetry doth not poetry make. However. I bowed to the weight of public opinion and purchased the the first book for the library where it circulated fairly well. So I agreed with myself to give the second book a chance and it turns out I liked it much better than the first one.

Eleanor's grandmother signs her up for camp - the same camp Eleanor's mother went to. Eleanor is excited, especially after the fun stories her friend tells about her camp. Then she realizes she will be away from her parents for nine days. There are a whole bunch of girls she doesn't know. Everything is very...outdoors. There are bugs, the food is icky, and she gets put in the baby swimming class. She does make a sort-of-friend, the tall and weird Joplin, but after the first day she wants to go home! With some help from the camp director and her guidance counselor, she does enjoy a few things about camp and manages to make it to the end.

Eleanor isn't the typical little girl of most beginning chapter books. I kind of sympathize with her dislike of camp, not being an outdoors person myself (other than a bit of gardening). She's a picky eater, sensitive, not athletic, and very much an only child, not used to living with other kids (or anyone really, since her parents are gone all the time it seems like). But she manages to stick it out and find some good things about camp after all. I liked that the author didn't do the typical thing and make her a huge fan of camp by the end "Sometimes--not always, but definitely sometimes--camp was a wonderful surprise." I still don't think much of the poetry from a literary standpoint, but it does work in this context and if the kids just see it as a shorter book, instead of thinking "oh this book is in poetry" that's ok too.

Verdict: Fans of the first book will definitely want to read this one. It's also perfect for those little girls who don't mesh comfortably into a group. Eleanor's fears, troubles, and triumphs ring true throughout the book and even kids who like camp and sloppy joes will be able to sympathize a little with her private reactions to what everyone else thinks is wonderful.

ISBN: 9781419701900; Published April 2013 by Amulet/Abrams; ARC provided by publisher at ALA Midwinter 2013; Purchased for the library