Sleepaway Girls by Jen Calonita

Sam is not crazy about spending the summer as a third wheel, with her best friend Mal and her new boyfriend listening to the sounds of “pookie” and “sweetie.” Looking for a way to get out, Sam finds a job as a counselor-in-training at Whispering Pines camp in the New York Catskills. Never having been to camp before she expects a somewhat idyllic experience, but what she gets is something she would never have guessed in a million years. When Sam gets to camp things start to go downhill fast and she’s not sure if the summer will turn out as great as she was expecting it to. First there is Ashley, the resident queen bee of Whispering Pines, and then there is the absolutely hot and flirtatious counselor Hunter, who is not as innocent as he seems, and then there is Cole, who is just too funny and always teasing Sam, but he’s just a friend, or at least that’s what she wants to think. There are some highlights to her days though, such as: her new cabin friends who brighten her day and then the cute campers that she helps out with. How will Sam’s summer camp experience turn out? No one, not even her, knows. This book was a really fun look at summer camp. By the time I was finished with SLEEPAWAY GIRLS I was ready to pack my bags and head off to camp too! It’s a great book for a car ride or the beach or any other fun summery activity. The plot was fun and real and made you feel those mosquito bites, just like Sam. At times though it was a bit repetitive and dragged on. The characters were interesting. I felt that Sam really needed to stand up for herself, as it got boring when she kept getting stepped on and didn’t do anything. Cole was always there to make the reader laugh and Ashley was your perfect, pure evil villain. Overall I liked this book. The ending was a bit predictable, but the setting of the book was impeccable. This is a great book for all aged young adult readers as they will get lost in the fun of summer camp and all the drama that it brings!