Camp Rolling Hills

“Camp Rolling Hills” by Stacey Davidowtiz is the absolute perfect summer read for anyone who’s ever been to camp, had a crush, or felt a little insecure in their own skin. We were lucky enough to get an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and Abrams Publishing, so shout out to them for being totally awesome.

“Camp Rolling Hills” captures the magic of heading off to camp for the summer. The freedom of no parents. The chance to be someone different than who you are back home. S’mores. Three legged races. Nicknames. Bunk raids that turn into epic underwear scavenger hunts – and of course – the summer crush! The first book, “First Base”  is told from two perspectives – Stephanie, aka Smiley and Bobby, aka Smelly.

 

Smiley is a girl who recently lost her father, but doesn’t like to share her sadness with others. She generally keeps a pretty optimistic attitude, especially when it comes to summer camp. Camp Rolling Hills is her most favorite place on Earth, and she’s so excited to see her camp friends and start her year as an Upper Camper. Unfortunately, her camp bestie, Melman, doesn’t really understand the point of having a boyfriend. Melman is reluctant to share her friends with boys, so Smiley tries to hide her crush on the newest camper, Smelly.

 

Smelly is the new kid at camp who struggles with pretty hardcore anxiety issues. He loves listening to music on his dad’s old iPod and generally goes to baseball camp in the summer. This year though, his parents sent him off to Camp Rolling Hills while they work out their problems. Smelly is reluctant at first, and finds the camp to be filled with kids he can’t really relate to. Why does everyone have a weird nickname? And why must his be SMELLY?

 

Smiley and Smelly become fast friends, as they find each other not only really cute, but really easy to talk to about some of the harder things in their lives, like their parent struggles. As each others first crushes, the book does a really great job of making you root for these two every time they interact. Every moment between them feels magical, and gives you that butterflies in your stomach feeling you get when you have a brand new crush. Unfortunately, when it comes time for the Midsummer Dance, things somehow go from totally fine to completely out of control. Smiley and Smelly end up in a huge fight that ultimately leads to a bunk raid of epic proportions.

 Can Smelly and Smiley make up before the end of camp bonfire? You’ll have to read it to find out!

We haven’t read the second book in the series, “Crossing Over”, just yet, but we do know that it’s told from the perspective of Melman and Steinberg, two characters you meet in “First Base”, but don’t really learn too much about. We know that Melman is super into soccer and Steinberg loves building robots – but we don’t get too much insight into what they’re thinking and what their camp experiences are like. Thankfully, these two great characters get to tell their side of the story in “Crossing Over”. 

One other really cute and kind of unique thing about the book is that in between some of the chapters, you get to read some of the letters the campers have written home to their friends and family. Some of the letters actually divulge a bit about the plot or how much time has passed, a fun way to help move the plot along. There’s also a bunch of cute illustrations of the campers.

We also love how such a light, summery read manages to tackle so many issues that so many of us are struggling with. From divorcing parents and loss to insecurities and anxieties, “Camp Rolling Hills” shows it’s readers that not only is okay to show the world who you really are, it’s absolutely okay to ask for help when you need it.

Fingers crossed that we see even more from this series in the future! Peep our other book recommendations here!