Camp Twisted Pine
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
Whispering Pines meets Small Spaces in this spooky middle grade novel about a girl whose first summer camp experience is disrupted by a menacing creature abducting her fellow campers.
Eleven-year-old Naomi loves all things outdoors—birds and beetles, bats and bunnies—in theory. She explores nature in the best possible way: the cold, hard facts in books. So when her parents’ announcement of their impending divorce comes hand in hand with sending Naomi and her younger twin brothers to summer camp while they figure things out, it’s salt in the wound for Naomi and her avoidance of hands-on experience.
Camp Twisted Pine could be worse. The counselors are nice, and Naomi likes her cabinmates, especially Jackie, whose blunt personality and frank dislike of the camp draws Naomi in quickly. Jackie is also hard of hearing and uses a hearing aid, and the girls quickly develop a routine of sign language lessons in their free time, which Naomi sees as a welcome break when all the s’mores-making and nature walks get to be a bit much.
But the campers aren’t the only ones who roam the grounds of Camp Twisted Pine. When people start to go missing, including Jackie, Naomi has to find a way to save everyone—and herself. Her practical knowledge of the outdoors may still be rudimentary at best, but she has years of studying and the scientific method to fall back on. Can Naomi identify and stop the dangerous predator before it’s too late?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Eleven-year-old Naomi Samuels spends the summer between elementary and middle school enduring both familial and paranormal aggravation in this sleepaway camp thriller by Burch (Finch House). Sent to Camp Twisted Pine by their parents, Naomi and her younger twin brothers Aman and Omar find themselves in the New Jersey Pine Barrens while the adults navigate a waning marriage. Apprehensive about the experience, science-minded Naomi nevertheless finds much to observe in the surrounding woods and befriends fellow camper Jackie, who wears hearing aids and teaches Naomi American Sign Language. Despite Naomi's more logical thinking, she's affected by a campfire story about the Jersey Devil and believes she encounters the folkloric creature during an unsupervised forest outing. Her fears that there's something sinister about Camp Twisted Pine are confirmed when campers—including Aman—begin disappearing into the woods, setting Naomi on a rescue mission in a story that mixes light thrills, natural magic, and local legend. Initial horror movie flourishes give way to depictions of Naomi's changing family relationships, stressing the interpersonal dynamics of summer camp and lending a gentler feel to this introspective dark fantasy adventure. Characters are intersectionally diverse. Ages 8–12.
