Middle Grade Monday: Camp by Kayla Miller

Image: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Camp by Kayla Miller. 224 p. A Click Graphic Novel #2. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, April, 2019. 9781328530813. (Review of finished paperback courtesy of publisher ALAAC19)

Middle Grade Monday features Camp by Kayla Miller. Besties Olive and Willow are excited to be heading to sleep-away camp together. They are bunking together and plan on  doing everything together. Problems arise almost immediately as Olive is interested in activities that Willow is not. Olive easily makes friends. Willow is instantly homesick. She hates the camp food and begins to demand more and more of Olive's attention. Will their friendship survive camp?

This terrific graphic novel won't sit in your library, so you'd better invest in a hard cover copy and consider purchasing a second copy. It's perfect for fans of Raina Telgemeier and Victoria Johnson or for fans of friendship stories. The art is appealing in easy to follow panels. Olive and Willow are relatable and both grow as they try to salvage their friendship. There's angst and humor and some incredible camp activities. 

I got this books thanks to my book buddy, Barb, who created the website, abookandahug.  I ran into her as I wandered the exhibits at ALAAC last June. She was headed to the Houghton Mifflin Booth for Kayla Miller's signing and asked if I had read Click. I had not. She (of course) had and was eager to snag Camp. We could choose either Click or Camp.

I chose Camp partly because the story reminded me of #3 son and his best friend. BF's mom wanted him to attend the sleep-away camp that she had attended as a tween/ teen and her daughter attended. It was her daughter's last year there and she wanted BF to go. He was uninterested. She asked him if he would go if #3 went. BF said yes. So, she asked me at a Little League game if I'd consider sending #3 to camp in Colorado. It sounded like an amazing camp so I agreed to allow her to ask him if he'd like to go. He did. I had to put him on a plane (with connections) as an unaccompanied minor. I cried when I said good-bye. He never looked back.

Well. The boys were put in separate tents. #3 fell in love with the camp immediately and BF suffered from terrible homesickness immediately. It got so bad, his dad had to fly out once or twice. #3 felt terrible and tried to encourage him to join the amazing hikes and activities. Unfortunately, he never came around. When #3 got off the plane back home, he proclaimed he was going back the next year and thought #4 son should go as well. They did.