Mary McCoy

This is a weird and wonderful book.

It ostentatiously tells the story of a group of girls who are mailed invitations to attend a summer camp, and who accept these invitations, ready to head off to what they assume will be a week full of smores, songs and sleeping under the stars.

But this story goes places they, and you,will never see coming.

The mysterious narrator had me guessing from the start, as did the unique structure of the book, set up as if it was being run as a play (though the show more chapters are in prose, not script). There's the group facing off against their rich archenemy camp across the lake, the group running from a murderously mad former camper, the group on a heroic quest, the group who seem to have found their soulmates, and the group just trying to survive as their cabin turns against them.

McCoy plays with popular narrative tropes from both movies and books, and gives readers a fabulous Cabin in the Woods-esque feel, where we know from the start that our expectations and understandings of human nature are being toyed with by a talented writer who has so much more going on than meets the eye. show less

Imperial Day Academy has a student Senate, but the school is really ruled by the Honor Council, a group of students charged with seeing that their peers uphold the school's Honor Code. Claudia never expects to be involved in either group, though her older sister Maisie is poised to be Honor Council president someday. Born prematurely, Claudia has a limp, a stutter, asthma, and various other physical differences that have positioned her as more of an observer than a leader -- but all that show more will change as she gets caught up in the politics and backstabbing that happen during her time at Imperial Day.

This modern-day retelling of I, Claudius by Robert Graves really hits the mark in so many ways. (Amusingly, Graves is the surname of the principal of Imperial Day.) Readers unfamiliar with the source material will find that this book stands well on its own as a tale of school government machinations, but those who have read I, Claudius will find lots of clever corollaries between the two books. (It does make me wonder who this book is really for, though, as it's the rare teen who is a fan of Graves' work.) There's strength in the writing, plot, and characters -- scheming Livia was particularly well drawn, and Cal was appropriately terrifying. I'd recommend this to readers who enjoy YA stories set in private schools, particularly if they are also fans of Roman history (or, specifically, I, Claudius). show less

"This quest is not a summer's game.
It is not safe, it is not tame.
Consider this before you pack -
Some of you may not come back."

This was a fascinating and interesting story with the love for summer camp, quests and villains, but also the fun fantasy magic and horror. There were so many twists and turns, I was glad it was broken into acts. And even though the cast was huge (5 cabins with 5 each counselors, counselors in training and many others) - it was easy to keep track of the because show more each chapter was labeled a Cabin number and the symbol to associate with their story line. The whole book was also broken into Acts, to know when major events were happening and when the midway point was turning the plot.

I loved the twists and turns but I must admit my favorite was the end - when the narrator gave us the endings - good or bad - and let us know how it would all be in a far away time. Such a great way to end it all. show less

This is an...odd book. I finished it, and it was quite lengthy, but I'm not sure I would recommend it.

Twenty-five campers have been invited to summer camp. They are divided into five cabins. Each cabin has an adventure. Cabin 1 is participating in the All-Camp Sports and Follies. This is their chance to beat the posh campers across the lake and Kadie is determined that this will be the year they win. But is she really a returning camper? And are the rival campers even human? Cabin 2 is being show more stalked by a murderer...or are they? They're a disparate group but they can come together to survive anything - they hope. Cabin 3 is on a quest, united in their goal of discovering a secret treasure. But perhaps they should have thought about it a little more before taking off into the woods... Cabin 4 has 4 best friends and one lonely girl who meet their soulmates, but they're not quite what they seem... and Cabin 5 is in serious trouble right from the start.

SPOILERS

So, the story is told jumping back and forth from cabin to cabin. People "die" (although none of the campers actually gets killed) and various chapters end on cliffhangers. Some of the campers are just focused on survival, some are working through personal problems and issues, some have realized that Something is Going On. Throughout the story, the theme of a popular series of girls' adventure stories is woven and readers also hear from a narrator, with more and more hints that everything is stage-managed. We never really discover the exact nature of the beings that are running the camp, but the implication is that they're some kind of faery since iron injures them. There is a conclusion of types; the narrator is freed, both from the creatures and her own mental prison, the girls are rescued more or less intact, and no mention is made of the fate of previous campers and personnel who didn't survive their summer adventure.

This is certainly intriguing, and I continued reading to the end of all 413 pages to see what happened, but I found myself fervently wishing that the story would get on with it at several points. It's not really a horror story, although people are attacked frequently, not really a fantasy although magic does exist, and not a love story although kisses are exchanged. One story line follows a girl who is panicked that her cabin mates will discover her soulmate is a girl, but it's not the focus of their plot thread. Several descriptions imply racial diversity, but it's rarely specified. Ultimately it's a weird and unique blend that I think would have done better if it had been about 100 pages shorter.

Verdict: A good story, but I can't think of an audience - it would have to be one that is comfortable both with first kisses, spider monsters, and narrow escapes from death as well as soul-searching. That's kind of a limited field. Also, it's over 400 pages long. I enjoyed it, but can't quite recommend it. I'd say it's an additional purchase for a specific type of middle school reader.

ISBN: 9781512415971; Published 2017 by Carolrhoda Lab; Borrowed from another library in my consortium show less