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Camp Frenemies #1
Camp Frenemies
A frenemies-to-friends graphic novel about the trials and tribulations of three twelve-year-old girls and cabinmates at sleepaway camp. Perfect for fans of Guts and Real Friends!
Beatrice, Roxy, and Virginia are fresh out of 6th grade and ready to conquer a new their first week at sleepaway camp.
Beatrice would rather be in the company of her stuffed animals than people, something her parents hope camp will help with.
Roxy, fresh from the news of her parent’s divorce, feels like she’s being sent away while they sort out logistics. Further complicating matters is the fact that Bea and Roxy do not get along.
Virginia wanted to go to camp, all the middle school soccer girls go, but that was before she found out she didn’t make her middle school soccer team.
As the kids navigate their first big feelings -- crushes, betrayals, ambition, family drama, and more -- during this tender and sensitive transition time of their childhood, they ultimately discover it is friendship that helps them through the trials of growing up.
With a pitch-perfect voice and accessible cartoons, don't miss the next big middle grade graphic novel from uber talented creator Liz Montague.
Beatrice, Roxy, and Virginia are fresh out of 6th grade and ready to conquer a new their first week at sleepaway camp.
Beatrice would rather be in the company of her stuffed animals than people, something her parents hope camp will help with.
Roxy, fresh from the news of her parent’s divorce, feels like she’s being sent away while they sort out logistics. Further complicating matters is the fact that Bea and Roxy do not get along.
Virginia wanted to go to camp, all the middle school soccer girls go, but that was before she found out she didn’t make her middle school soccer team.
As the kids navigate their first big feelings -- crushes, betrayals, ambition, family drama, and more -- during this tender and sensitive transition time of their childhood, they ultimately discover it is friendship that helps them through the trials of growing up.
With a pitch-perfect voice and accessible cartoons, don't miss the next big middle grade graphic novel from uber talented creator Liz Montague.
272 pages, Paperback
Published May 13, 2025
41 people are currently reading
83 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
July 11, 2025
cute but i dont think anything could make me forgive someone for READING MY DIARY ALOUD????
February 21, 2025
The friendship dynamics in this graphic novel are great. The kids are all behaving selfishly and mad at the other kids for doing the same thing. This would be a great book to use in conflict mediations. Plus we don’t often see storylines involving older kids who are reluctant to leave behind a beloved comfort item.
September 4, 2025
Very cute graphic novel about friendship. Even made me giggle out loud a couple times.
May 26, 2025
It's the summer before seventh grade, and Beatrice's father insists that she attend summer camp for a week in order to branch out and hone her social skills. There's nothing she wants to do less, but to provide comfort, she brings along her stuffies. Roger, her stuffed bunny, serves as her guide, comfort, and conscience. But she and Virginia, one of her cabin mates, get off on the wrong foot--and it's on. Virginia embarrasses her by reading part of her diary aloud, revealing her crush, and then Bea retaliates. Roxy, who is Viriginia's friend and the peacemaker, tries to keep both girls happy. Eventually, Bea realizes that Virginia and Roxy both have issues and that she might be braver than she thought. Maybe, just maybe, camp isn't so bad after all. The fact that girls mature at different stages, and that's okay, is encouraging and will make many readers feel seen. This graphic novel is a fast read and oh, so relatable for many middle graders. Once again, the message that making assumptions about others can lead to the wrong conclusions comes through loud and clear. The book's design is refreshing, clean, crisp, with plentiful white space and only a few panels on each page.
June 18, 2025
so yes i did in fact read a kids graphic novel.
why?
Well, I was sitting in the backseat of my car on a 45-minute ride home, and I saw someone had left this book on the seat next to me, so I picked it up and read it. I finished it before we got home.
This book was pretty good. I loved the illustration style and the fact that getting made fun of in 6th grade for doing what you love is so realistic. I loved the frenemies-to-friends trope and the fact that Owen had a stuffed animal too.
For a kids' graphic novel, this had a pretty good storyline set at a week-long sleep-away camp. where Bea gets made fun of for carrying around a stuffed animal and then talking to her stuffed animal while she sits in her bed in her cabin.
her 'nest mates' (girls who sleep in the bunk next to her. two bunks = a nest) try to warn her that she will get made fun of at assembly for having the stuffed animal she doesn't listen and she gets made fun of the ridicule rubs off on her nest mates giving them a bad reputation. Pretty much, it felt like 4th grade at a summer camp.
And yes, I just ranted about a kid's graphic novel as a high schooler. Get over it.
why?
Well, I was sitting in the backseat of my car on a 45-minute ride home, and I saw someone had left this book on the seat next to me, so I picked it up and read it. I finished it before we got home.
This book was pretty good. I loved the illustration style and the fact that getting made fun of in 6th grade for doing what you love is so realistic. I loved the frenemies-to-friends trope and the fact that Owen had a stuffed animal too.
For a kids' graphic novel, this had a pretty good storyline set at a week-long sleep-away camp. where Bea gets made fun of for carrying around a stuffed animal and then talking to her stuffed animal while she sits in her bed in her cabin.
her 'nest mates' (girls who sleep in the bunk next to her. two bunks = a nest) try to warn her that she will get made fun of at assembly for having the stuffed animal she doesn't listen and she gets made fun of the ridicule rubs off on her nest mates giving them a bad reputation. Pretty much, it felt like 4th grade at a summer camp.
And yes, I just ranted about a kid's graphic novel as a high schooler. Get over it.
May 11, 2025
In CAMP FRENEMIES, Bea’s dad insists on sending her to a week of sleepaway camp to socialize—and she insists on bringing her menagerie of stuffed animal friends. When she arrives at camp, her bunkmates Roxy and Virginia are upfront about how Bea’s insistence on talking to her stuffed animals will be taken by other campers, but Bea doesn’t care. As the week progresses, the girls take strides towards becoming friends, but get derailed by camp events like pranks, canoeing, and tug of war. Roxy tries to broker peace between her bunkmates, but is dealing with issues of her own. When she goes missing, Bea and Virginia find themselves banding together to locate her.
The relatable conflicts presented in a summer camp setting will interest readers. Each of the three main characters has her own issues that may not always be visible on the surface like Bea’s conversations with her stuffed animals are, which serves as a good reminder to readers that things aren’t always as they seem. Fans of camp stories and friendship drama tales will enjoy this one.
The relatable conflicts presented in a summer camp setting will interest readers. Each of the three main characters has her own issues that may not always be visible on the surface like Bea’s conversations with her stuffed animals are, which serves as a good reminder to readers that things aren’t always as they seem. Fans of camp stories and friendship drama tales will enjoy this one.
March 25, 2025
Graphic Novel
I received an electronic ARC from Random House Children's Publishers through NetGalley.
Readers meet Bea as she heads for a week of camp. We learn early on that this is not her choice. Her two bunkmates already know each other and both bring their own issues. I appreciate how Montague reveals more about all three characters as the week unfolds. Middle grade readers will connect with the situations each faces at home and may identify with at least one of the characters. They slowly find their way to friendship and standing up for each other when other campers bully any of them. The artwork captures the emotions and action to add to the story. A terrific read as we approach summer months and coping with the gamut of emotions leaving home can inspire.
Montague weaves the deeper message into the humor and lighter parts of her story.
I received an electronic ARC from Random House Children's Publishers through NetGalley.
Readers meet Bea as she heads for a week of camp. We learn early on that this is not her choice. Her two bunkmates already know each other and both bring their own issues. I appreciate how Montague reveals more about all three characters as the week unfolds. Middle grade readers will connect with the situations each faces at home and may identify with at least one of the characters. They slowly find their way to friendship and standing up for each other when other campers bully any of them. The artwork captures the emotions and action to add to the story. A terrific read as we approach summer months and coping with the gamut of emotions leaving home can inspire.
Montague weaves the deeper message into the humor and lighter parts of her story.
April 3, 2025
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Bea is a 5th grader whose parents are divorcing, and who is taking great comfort in having conversations with her stuffed animals, especially Roger, a rabbit. When her father insists that she go to a sleepaway camp for a week because she needs to socialize, she balks, but when the deal is made that if she can stay a week, she won't have to go back, she reluctantly agrees. Her cabin mates are Roxy and Virginia, and they are upfront with her about how others will perceive her rabbit habit, but Bea is not shy about advocating for herself and telling them to leave her alone. When she takes Roger to the cafeteria, however, many people make fun of her, although there is one boy who is an upstander. Bea decides she is in love with the boy, Owen. Bea's counselor, Flower, is understanding when Bea sits out of activities so that she can spend time on her bunk with the stuffed animals. Virginia is also dealing with some sadness, since she didn't make the soccer team, and many of the girls who did are at the camp, and Roxy's parents are fighting at home, so she doesn't like the tension at camp. There's all kind of drama; Bea's diary is stolen and read aloud, Bea retaliates by not giving Virginia a friendship bracelet, and the girls constantly have tears in their eyes. Will they ever be able to come to an agreement to peacefully coexist?
Strengths: "Friend drama" is definitely a topic that my students like, and this had many levels of it. The inclusion of an imagined romance with a boy who is nice is a great age appropriate inclusion. Not many of my students get to attend summer camps, so it is always an interesting setting for a novel; a good way to have a vicarious experience. I haven't seen many books that address a student who is very attached to a stuffed animal, and I have seen that at school; last year, there was a girl who had a stuffed axolotl, and there was quite a hullabaloo when it went missing.
Weaknesses: I had concerns about Bea's mental health and had hoped she would get some help. There was very little adult intervention in all of the very mean behavior. The illustration style wasn't my favorite (it's slightly reminiscent of Amy Ignatow's The Popularity Papers), but the bright colors will still appeal to the target demographic.
What I really think: Fans of this author's The Equinox Test (School for Unusual Magic #1), or other emotionally fraught graphic novels about camp like Miller's Stuck, Christmas' Gamerville, or Brosgol's Be Prepared, or Smith, Tanner, Michael, and Gomez's Absolute Zeros: Camp Launchpad.
Bea is a 5th grader whose parents are divorcing, and who is taking great comfort in having conversations with her stuffed animals, especially Roger, a rabbit. When her father insists that she go to a sleepaway camp for a week because she needs to socialize, she balks, but when the deal is made that if she can stay a week, she won't have to go back, she reluctantly agrees. Her cabin mates are Roxy and Virginia, and they are upfront with her about how others will perceive her rabbit habit, but Bea is not shy about advocating for herself and telling them to leave her alone. When she takes Roger to the cafeteria, however, many people make fun of her, although there is one boy who is an upstander. Bea decides she is in love with the boy, Owen. Bea's counselor, Flower, is understanding when Bea sits out of activities so that she can spend time on her bunk with the stuffed animals. Virginia is also dealing with some sadness, since she didn't make the soccer team, and many of the girls who did are at the camp, and Roxy's parents are fighting at home, so she doesn't like the tension at camp. There's all kind of drama; Bea's diary is stolen and read aloud, Bea retaliates by not giving Virginia a friendship bracelet, and the girls constantly have tears in their eyes. Will they ever be able to come to an agreement to peacefully coexist?
Strengths: "Friend drama" is definitely a topic that my students like, and this had many levels of it. The inclusion of an imagined romance with a boy who is nice is a great age appropriate inclusion. Not many of my students get to attend summer camps, so it is always an interesting setting for a novel; a good way to have a vicarious experience. I haven't seen many books that address a student who is very attached to a stuffed animal, and I have seen that at school; last year, there was a girl who had a stuffed axolotl, and there was quite a hullabaloo when it went missing.
Weaknesses: I had concerns about Bea's mental health and had hoped she would get some help. There was very little adult intervention in all of the very mean behavior. The illustration style wasn't my favorite (it's slightly reminiscent of Amy Ignatow's The Popularity Papers), but the bright colors will still appeal to the target demographic.
What I really think: Fans of this author's The Equinox Test (School for Unusual Magic #1), or other emotionally fraught graphic novels about camp like Miller's Stuck, Christmas' Gamerville, or Brosgol's Be Prepared, or Smith, Tanner, Michael, and Gomez's Absolute Zeros: Camp Launchpad.
March 8, 2026
This graphic novel is a fantastic and relatable read for students transitioning into middle school. The story follows Beatrice, Roxy, and Virginia as they navigate their first week at sleepaway camp while dealing with heavy "first big feelings." I loved how it tackled personal struggles like divorce, the sting of not making a sports team, and being attached to a favorite stuffed animal. The "frenemies to friends" dynamic feels very authentic to how twelve-year-olds actually interact, including all the messy drama and eventual growth. While the conflict gets a bit intense at times, the way they eventually band together to support one another is really heartening. It is a wonderful pick for fans of realistic stories.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.
April 23, 2025
I requested this book because I liked the title--I always think camp books will be a bit fun. I also like graphic novels. I was not very keen on the illustrations. There are other graphic novels, where the pictures are warmer and friendly---these seem more elementary.
The story was good. I like how one of the characters struggles with friendships and almost seems as if she is on the spectrum. I also like how it showed how kids care about one another. The ending is happy and that is also something that I like in books.
The story was good. I like how one of the characters struggles with friendships and almost seems as if she is on the spectrum. I also like how it showed how kids care about one another. The ending is happy and that is also something that I like in books.
May 9, 2025
ARC Review
This book was such a fun and quick read! It’s all about stepping outta your comfort zone, making new friends (even the ones you didn’t expect), and learning how to work together as a team. Plus, the lil’ summer crush? Yeah, that was the cherry on top.
As a former camp girlie… (shoutout to Victory Park summer camp…Pasadena keep ya head up) …this had me feeling all types of nostalgia. Definitely the kind of read that made me smile from beginning to end.
This book was such a fun and quick read! It’s all about stepping outta your comfort zone, making new friends (even the ones you didn’t expect), and learning how to work together as a team. Plus, the lil’ summer crush? Yeah, that was the cherry on top.
As a former camp girlie… (shoutout to Victory Park summer camp…Pasadena keep ya head up) …this had me feeling all types of nostalgia. Definitely the kind of read that made me smile from beginning to end.
July 18, 2025
Beatrice does not want to go to camp and only agrees when her dad tells her she never has to go again if she can stick it out for one week. She is miserable – one of her cabinmates, Virginia, teases her relentlessly about her stuffies (Bea carries a stuffy with her everywhere and talks to her stuffies). When their other cabinmate Roxy goes missing, Bea and Virginia bravely set out to find her. In the process, all three realize they have a lot more in common and move from enemies to friends.
March 19, 2026
Camp friends
This was a cute MG story about a sixth grade girl still attached to her stuffed animals/imaginary friends butting heads with one of her bunkmates. The art was rather simplistic, but I liked the banter which I found amusing. Contains some bullying, mean girls, divorce, and crushes.
This was a cute MG story about a sixth grade girl still attached to her stuffed animals/imaginary friends butting heads with one of her bunkmates. The art was rather simplistic, but I liked the banter which I found amusing. Contains some bullying, mean girls, divorce, and crushes.
June 23, 2025
This was a very quick read and would appeal to younger readers. A lot of the plot didn't ring true (I say that as an adult reader and teacher) as I felt there should have been more adult response to the bullying. I do think that lower readers and younger children would like this book.
June 26, 2025
Camp Frenemies was a cute and quick little read!
I’ve always been a huge stuffed animal girl, so I really related to Bea feeling more comfortable around them than her cabin mates 😅
I liked how all three girls overcame some tough issues and came together as friends at the end.
I’ve always been a huge stuffed animal girl, so I really related to Bea feeling more comfortable around them than her cabin mates 😅
I liked how all three girls overcame some tough issues and came together as friends at the end.
July 27, 2025
I held way more grudges when i was this age for less (reading the diary out loud is diabolical) glad they were able to over come it. Also rodger really stepped up in the end to truly bond them together🥹
February 20, 2025
Witty and well-paced, and ripe with all the awfulness of sixth grade.
June 26, 2025
This is honestly what camp was/is for me, but I learned to like the people there. This book is good for introverted people.
July 7, 2025
very cute story about summer camp life and making friends.
July 30, 2025
Really funny!
August 14, 2025
literally nothing could make me forgive the person who read my diary aloud to the entire camp
December 29, 2025
I liked the realism in the idea that each kid thought the other was being selfish, even though they were doing the same.
February 15, 2026
Super cute and the simple illustrations actually appealed to me
April 28, 2025
Camp Frenemies is great! Even though the characters have just finished sixth grade, their actions seem a little young based on the middle grade students I have worked with over the past 5 years. The situations they are all dealing with are spot on. I hope we see more of Beatrice, Roxy, and Virginia in future publications.
September 26, 2025
Camp Frenemies by Liz Montague was a cute graphic novel. It was about Bea, who likes to talk to her stuffed animals more than other kids. Her bunk mate Roxy tries to keep the peace between her and Virginia, and the kids learn to support each other. This had cute illustrations and was a nice story overall.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews