Sleepaway Girls by Jen Calonita

Here's another review! I just recently read this delightful book. It's called Sleepaway Girls by Jen Calonita. First of all is the synopsis:

When Sam's best friend gets her first boyfriend, she's not ready to spend the summer listening to the two of them call each other "pookie." Sick of being a third wheel, Sam applies to be a counselor-in-training at Whispering Pines camp in the New York Catskills. But what she doesn't realize is that it's not going to be all Kumbaya sing-alongs and gooey s'mores. If Ashley, the alpha queen of Whispering Pines, doesn't ruin Sam's summer, then her raging crush on the surfer-blond and flirtatious Hunter just might. At least she has playful Cole, who's always teasing her, but is oh-so-comfortable to hang out with, and the singular gang of girls that become fast friends with Sam-they call themselves the Sleepaway Girls.

When I found this book at the store, I was actually in the midst of my summer holidays. So I thought, why not? I should buy a book with a really summery feel to it. And I'm so glad that I bought Sleepaway Girls. So, from the synopsis above you could already see what the story is all about! Summer Camp! There's Sam Montgomery, your average fifteen year old girl in her summer holiday. She has a best friend who apparently has found a new boyfriend and she hated feeling left out. Sam loves her, but she just doesn't like being treated that way. But then she finds her way out, by applying for a job as a counselor-in-training (CIT) at a summer camp called Whispering Pines.

Sam is in for quite the ride at Whispering Pines, this book wasn't all about the smooth ride of spending your summer at a camp. There were quite the amount of drama in this book. It involves the mean girl Ashley and her little entourage, and they didn't exactly make Sam's life fine and dandy at Whispering Pines. Then there are the two guys, the handsome and dreamy Hunter and the cool, pleasant, laid-back Cole. Well, they definitely brought a lot of sweetness in Sam's life at the camp. Yet she still made some funky friends that she got to know, and they really did had her back, and were with her through Ashley's backstabbing way. Okay, but Sleepaway Girls isn't only about the drama, there were actually a lot of details about Whispering Pines and the camp traditions. And since Sam is a counselor in training at the camp, she had to learn to take care of the little campers. I loved how they were described based on their age levels. Pez, marshmallows. It's one of many delights that I found in this book. I never really got bored while reading and I found the book very colorful.

I love the excitement of Sleepaway Girls, but it's also a book about Sam standing up for herself and deciding on her own. It's about friendship, loyalty and love. It is actually a meaningful story and not the typical Summer book that is mostly focused on the drama and stereotypes. As I said, I was never bored and I loved the feeling of looking forward to turning the page and reading more. The plot of the story was very real and it got me to look a little differently on summer camp. The characters were well defined and described, although I wished it could have been done more on some. From this book I also learned about the sacrifices we make for others, standing up for yourself. But I also learned that we don't always have to follow the path people want us to take, we could make a path of our own. It's definitely a great book to read during a car ride, (unless you get a little car sick) the beach or the pool with the sun kissing your face.

I hoped you had a good summer everyone!

xoxo,

Maya

Grade: B+