REVIEW for Sleepaway Girls

Thank you Miriam at Hachette Books for sending me this book!

TITLE: Sleepaway Girls

AUTHOR: Jen Calonita

GENRE: YA

RATING: 3 Stars

I have never been to summer camp and I have to say that after reading Sleepaway Girls, I fear I might have missed out on some great times!

The strength of Sleepaway Girls is the author's gift of writing some highly entertaining, fun and picture perfect descriptions of what life can be like when you are a YA, have the entire summer off and have the opportunity of spending most of it at summer camp. As I read this book, I feel in love with the details and the experiences being described of a summer camp experience. It felt as though I was physically there - smelling the trees and flowers and living in the cabins - right along with the cast of characters.

Our main character Sam slowly but surely discovers what its like to be in a totally different environment than what she is used to - having to live with other girls she does not know well - getting a taste of what responsibility means. I did enjoy the character of Sam and her friends Em, Grace and Court. Although they each have very different personalities - they also seem to get along and find themselves forging a friendship at summer camp - all the while fighting the horrible Ashley.

This, unfortunately, is kind of where the book falls apart for me. I would have been happy just to read about their summer experiences, but to be honest, the "we" against "her" scenario felt old and I felt as though I had read this in at least a dozen other YA stories.

I did enjoy this book - but more because of the great detail and descriptions than because of the somewhat overused storyline.