Summary: In Camilla by Madeleine L'Engle, fifteen year old Camilla discovers her mother is having an affair. Her parents quarrel and her mother attempts suicide. Camilla's friend Luisa has parents who are also having problems and may even separate. Camilla begins to spend more and more time with Luisa's brother Frank who is seventeen and talks with her about deep subjects like death, life, and God. Unlike Luisa's immature friendship, Frank offers Camilla something more and she begins to have romantic feelings about him. She also discusses her desire to own day become an astronomer. As the novel progresses, Camilla slowly leaves childhood behind and enters the often times cruel world of adults full of heart break and harsh realities.

Review: Madeleine L'Engle's Camilla explores the hardships of growing up. The discovery that parents and adults are not always perfect compels Camilla to accept the reality of the world. L'Engle begins the novel with fifteen Camilla still receiving gifts of dolls and having her father dote on her as though she were still less than ten years old. But within the first two chapters, Camilla no longer views the world in the same way. As Camilla's character develops, she learns that she is beautiful, like her mother, but no longer a naive child. As she develops a relationship with her best friend's brother, learns of other people's difficulties in life and how they survive, and has her heart broken, she proves her resilience to the forces working against her in life.