Welcome to Camp Fill-in-the-Blank

Page, 14, has grown up in Saudi Arabia where her parents work though originally they are from Prince Edward Island where they still have lots of family. After a bombing closes down her school, Page finds herself shipped off to PEI for the summer to babysit her two younger cousins who are known for being unruly and full of trouble. To keep the two boys busy for the entire summer, Page devises a summer camp which has them digging holes in the backyard to find treasure, creating obstacle courses, and even shooting bows and arrows at balloon targets. Chaos and fun ensue as new friends are made, shenanigans are had, and Page finds out if she can really handle an entire summer with two boys who refuse to be “babysat”.

The plot is a fun one, and the book is chalk full of creative ideas that you could use yourself for entertaining kids or which may inspire kids to try themselves. Strewn throughout are interesting facts about Saudi Arabia and PEI, such as taxis being called limousines in Saudi Arabia. The writing, itself, is a bit clunky, and the sentences don’t flow well from one to another, possibly because of a lot of short sentences which can sometimes make it feel like you’re reading a list. On the other hand, this book may be a good introduction to reading longer chapter books as it does have a fair number of pages, but the sentence structure isn’t very advanced.

A good summer read for kids longing to go to summer camp, Welcome to Camp Fill-in-the-Blank may help them discover the infinite possibilities a backyard can hold.