Five Summers

April 15, 2013
BFFs Emma, Jo, Skylar and Maddie meet up at Camp Nedoba the year after their last summer at the traditional camp, intending to renew their personal vows of loyalty to each other and to enjoy a nostalgic week of s'mores and summer fun. The lifelong friendships start to crack under the strain of very real adult dilemmas caused by boyfriend trouble, deception and betrayal. The girls are forced to examine their summer-camp relationships through the prism of their increasingly complex lives. Each of the four harbors a secret that is revealed at an inopportune moment. Middle-class Maddie has invented a wealthy family; Skylar doesn't get along with her demanding father; Emma has a secret, unrequited passion for one of the boys at camp; tomboy Jo, the daughter of the camp owner, realizes that being the life and soul of camp administration is not helping her image in the boyfriend stakes. However, in the end, friendship trumps all, and each girl finds her own resolution to life's gnarly problems. The chirpy narrative, though introduced in Emma's first-person, alternates its third-person focus from girl to girl and is punctuated by flashbacks to earlier summers. Despite orienting chapter headers, the lack of differentiation of flashbacks from the present-day story is sometimes confusing. In the end, this debut feels long and may not contain enough real substance to appeal to even the most avid of summer-camp fans. (Fiction. 12-16)

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June 1, 2013

Gr 8 Up-Maddie, Jo, Skylar, and Emma met at summer camp when they all were 10 and have been best friends ever since. They have a secret book of rules that they add to every summer. "Rule #6: Best friends ALWAYS kiss and tell!" In alternating chapters, the narrative jumps among characters and across time as the girls return to camp, at age 17, for a reunion weekend in the present day. Secrets are exposed, adventures are had, and memories rehashed when they get to know one another all over again. It is a co-ed summer camp, and there is a possibility of finally acting on middle-school flirtations. LaMarche has skillfully bottled the summer camp experience, right down to bug juice and Capture the Flag, into a lighthearted summer read. The moral of the story is a tricky one for teen girls to learn: relationships come and go, but girl friends are forever. The ending is a bit saccharine, but readers who love Anne Brashares's "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" series (Delacorte) will enjoy this addition.-Leah Krippner, Harlem High School, Machesney Park, IL

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2013
Four teens meet at summer camp as kids and through flashbacks reveal the ups and downs of their five-year friendship. Somewhere along the line, secrets threaten their bond; each hopes a camp reunion can recapture it. Those who've felt the unique connections created at summer camp will identify, but none of the girls are drawn finely enough to render them engaging.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)