How to Survive Summer Camp

How to Survive

by Jacqueline Wilson

Stella's mum and step-dad have gone off on holiday and have dumped Stella at the Evergreen Holiday Camp. She's not happy! Especially when she finds out she's expected to learn to swim - the one thing her mum promised she wouldn't have to do. She's determined not to enjoy herself and settles
down for a nightmare summer, but in the end she finds herself making friends, getting into scrapes, and having much more of a good time than she ever could have imagined!

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Contemporary, Summer, Friendship

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Jacqueline Wilson was born in Bath in 1945, but spent most of her childhood in Kingston-on-Thames. She always wanted to be a writer and wrote her first ‘novel’ when she was nine, filling in countless Woolworths’ exercise books as she grew up. As a teenager she started work for a magazine publishing company and then went on to work as a journalist on Jackie magazine (which she was told was named after her!) before turning to writing novels full-time.

One of Jacqueline’s most successful and enduring creations has been the famous Tracy Beaker, who first appeared in 1991 in The Story of Tracy Beaker. This was also the first of her books to be illustrated by Nick Sharratt. Since then Jacqueline has been on countless awards shortlists and has gone on to win many awards. The Illustrated Mum won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award, the 1999 Children’s Book of the Year at the British Book Awards and was also shortlisted for the 1999 Whitbread Children’s Book Award.

Double Act won the prestigious Smarties Medal and the Children’s Book Award as well as being highly commended for the Carnegie Medal. The Story of Tracy Beaker won the 2002 Blue Peter People’s Choice Award.

Jacqueline is one of the nation’s favourite authors, and her books are loved and cherished by young readers not only in the UK but all over the world. She has sold millions of books and in the UK alone the total now stands at over 35 million!

In 2002 Jacqueline was awarded the OBE for services to literacy in schools and from 2005 to 2007 she was the Children’s Laureate. In 2008 she became Dame Jacqueline Wilson.

Reviews

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young girl Stella is feeling abandoned after her mum and step-dad dump her at a summer camp whilst they go off on honeymoon without her. She is angry, stubborn and will not enjoy herself. She struggles through a whole summer (even with boys hair- a tragic accident at the hairdressers) with horrible camp leaders who force her to do lots of camping activities she doesn’t want to do like swimming. Along the way she realises that camp isn’t that bad as she makes some new friends.
I really enjoyed the book, its perfect for young girls trying to fit into a new situation perhaps a new family or school. Jacqueline Wilson has done a good job of writing from the perspective of a angry young girl who feels everyone is against her and won’t understand. I really like the way she has gone into detail about things that most young girls would find important i.e. long princess hair, new felt tips, art, fashion and writing a magazine. I think this book would be ideal for girls in Key Stage 2 for either guided reading or independent reading.

[Rachel Buckley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blast from the past

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book by Jacqueline Wilson. A story which is funny, enjoyable and loved by children. It is age appropriate for girls 8-12 years. It has appropriate language and isn't to sentimental. It kind of explains about summer camp.
When Stella( the main character) goes she thinks that she will hate it and that she will make no friends but she soon finds out that she was very wrong. It turns out that things aren't looking so bad as she thought they would be.
A great book- I think that everybody who likes Jacqueline Wilson should read this book.
Hope this helps,
By Epic Me!!!!

[Julie Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a interesting and entertaining book. If I was Stella, I would be very depressed in the camp, and I would just run away. However, Stella overcome her problems and had a rather good time in the camp. I was happy for her! Recommend to any readers finder books to read!

[Dahlia Amin · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love this book its amazing!! :D
this girl called Stella has got sent to summer camp,while her mom and step dad are on their honeymoon (i think)
for her moms wedding,she went to go do her hair ata salon,by accident,the hairdresser shaves half her hair off and had to cut it all of. she had short short short hair until it grew back
she makes herself not like it as shes stuck with snobby roomates,annoying teachers and 1 thing her mum promised she didnt have to do- swim.
All the girls in her group for summer camp made fun of her as she was a shy person with a quiet personality and barely had ANY hair.

Stella soon got through the conflicts she faced,made new friends and gets along with the teachers.
this book is one of my favourites as its got humour,suspence and conflict :D

[Zeena AlRayyan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was an interesting book. I like the way that the author writes her books because she makes her stories funny, but she also includes a problem or a situation that many teenagers can go through. In this story, Stella the main character is forced to go to summer camp because her mom is going on her honeymoon with her new husband. Stella hates that she has to waste her summer in a bad summer camp. When Stella reaches the camp, coaches force her to do some activities shes scared of doing such as swimming. Stella makes friends there that are kind and sweet to her, but she has people make fun of her too. Throughout the story, Stella starts enjoying the camp and when she realizes that camp is over, she remembers the fun times with her friends and she doesn't want to go home.

[DayBooks · Rating 1 out of 5]

Young Stella, find herself furious as her uncle bill and Mum Leave Her At A Summer Camp As They Go on a honey moon Stella is angry and annoyed to enjoy her time and towards the end of the text she realises summer camp isn’t to bad when you make the best of it and give it a go, this book is very relatable to other people across the world.This teaches us a lesson as well when things go unexpectedly wrong, get up on your feet and don’t be to hard stuck or stubborn to give it a go as you are surely missing out! Also no matter how many times it goes wrong try, as they say ‘if you don’t succeed at first try try again'
Hope everyone has a nice day/night

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

How many times ave your parents gone on a honeymoon and left you at a summer camp where at first looks youcould tell it was horrible?if the answer is no then you dont know what stella stebbins went through this summer.
this book was very good but i would say that f you dont like stories about summer camps never mind its still a good book for everyone.My gran would love it and my 4 year old brother would aswell

[Maha Eshraa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this story when I was a child and it still makes me laugh now. it sure does tell you how to survive an unwanted summer camp and have the time of your life. I guess if you have an imagination as the Stella how could not have fun !

[Lily Weiser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoy this book so much I have read it 3 times in the last year!

[carlee loveday · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read as a child, a teen and a adult. These books are my comfort blanket and I will always come back to them. Couldn’t recommend highly enough xxx

[Lottie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Razor · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was a nice, funny and relatable book but the main character wasn't the best... She really, really annoyed me because she was thinking that the world only revolves around her.

[lancie♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review features spoilers!!

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ R E V I E W

< P O S I T I V E S >
○ I was really surprised by the plot twist in this book! The wailing Stella had been hearing was a fox, that Mrs Markham was hiding in her room. It was this fox that had ripped Stella's book, when Mrs Markham was cleaning Stella's room. This explains why Mrs Markham got Stella's book fixed, and didn't ask Stella how it got ripped.
○ Because Stella accused Karen of ripping her book, Karen didn't want to join Stella's magazine. Anyone who contributed to the magazine was not allowed to enter the quiz. This meant Karen was able to enter. Despite not answering the questions in the quiz very well, Stella let Karen win. More than that, Stella gave her new 'designer' t-shirt to Karen as a prize. This was especially nice as Stella had observed Karen did not have 'designer' clothes, like her friend Louise. I love this!
○ Although it was a little cheeky and sarcastic, overall I did enjoy the instructions for making biscuits! Reading instructions sounds boring, but James simplified it for 'complete idiots'. He made it casual/informal, instead of professional, which turned out to be pretty honest and funny!
○ I really did think Rosemary was going to have to abandon her toy donkey in the cowpat. Therefore, I was really impressed Stella risked staying behind the rest of the group to clean it in the stream for her!

< N E G A T I V E S >
○ After Stella's mother contacting this summer camp before Stella attended, as well as speaking to a staff member upon arriving, I thought there was no way Stella would have to swim... Stella had to wear a spare swimming costume, despite her mother having comforted her by saying she couldn't swim if she didn't bring her swimming costume! Stella had two swim sessions a day, more than anyone else, she said. Throughout the book she was 'nearly crying', 'scared' and 'choking'. As she rightfully said on page 152, 'I was all tense and terrified because I couldn't swim'. I don't blame her, this is traumatic! I haven't even mentioned the fact her team, who would loose a lot of points because of Stella, lost at least one team point because she didn't want to swim. This was announced not just in front of her team, but the whole dining hall of all the children at the camp!
○ There were also hypothetical references to being hit, lashed, licked and many exaggerated references to dying and killing. Oh, and when a distant wailing sound ceased, Stella wondered if 'it' had been 'smothered, gagged or drugged'!
○ Stella might've said her instructors/leaders were harsh, but she was pretty annoying too! One of them referred to young girls as 'pretty' and 'ladies' which was a bit weird, but two characters, one of which was Stella, peered in on him getting changed was far weirder!
○ Stella decided to kiss her Brigadier after he, annoyed she did not participate in the swimming gala, took her aside after the other children left, to show him her swimming. What?!
○ A character was asked where she was from, for the second time, because 'You're black', and apparently, therefore, cannot be from Croydon (England, the UK), as she just said. This wasn't the only nationality-related issue in this book! Stella drew a 'Red Indian' with 'scarlet' hair, teeth and hair, saying he was the 'reddest Indian ever', to the point she decided to draw a fire beside him! I know this book was written in, and therefore likely set in the 1980s, when people generally did not respect native groups of people as much as nowadays, but this is still disrespectful, in my opinion, regardless. One thing, I might've let off, but there's two!
○ Stella liked when a young girl looked at Stella 'like that', which Stella elaborated, was a situation where Stella was like 'a queen' and the young girl was her 'maid'. What?!
○ Stella was worried about boys untying her swimming costume(!), despite the most concerning thing a boy ever did was speak in cringey, unnatural spoken rhymes!
○ Stella referred to herself as being like 'a boy in drag', because she was a girl with short hair, wearing a dress. Stella's age is never specified, but I'm guessing she's about ten, and I really HOPE most ten year olds don't know what 'drag' is.
○ Why was 'pants' used in American English by a British author in a story set in the UK? Why was Stella's parents referred to as 'going to Europe', when England, the UK, where this is set, is IN Europe? Why was Louise specified as having a crush on Alan, just for this to never be mentioned again?
○ Why was forcing Stella to swim, children drinking tea (very hot!), and what is misinterpreted as blood on Stella's pajamas all not a big deal, but Karen falling off her chair was a major concern?

< N E U T R A L >
○ Stella called her uncle and a leader at the camp 'uncle' despite being related to neither. I know some cultures/languages/contexts use a word such as 'uncle', as a word of respect (similar to 'father' for a priest), but if this was the case, it was not explained.
○ The cringey spoken rhymes remind me of the movie 'Mr Popper's Penguins', which had a character that spoke in alliteration. Strangely, I watched that movie the day before reading this book. More than that, that movie has a character called 'Janie', a name I claimed to have never heard before when watching that movie, and this book also has a character called Janie! Another coincidence is that when I attended a summer camp many, many years ago, I made a friend a summer camp called Stella, the same name as this book's protagonist.
○ I really thought Mrs Markham, upon being exposed as keeping a fox in her room, would promise not to tell on Stella for having a midnight feast, if she didn't tell anyone she had a pet fox. No. Stella just kept the secret.
○ I've been wondering for years why people say making food is a 'women's job', if most famous chefs are male, such as Gordon Ramsey, Jamie Oliver and Gino D'Campo. Finally someone addressed this, in this book. 'A boy cooking! What a cissy!' / 'A chef is a bloke, and that's not a joke!'.
○ I've heard people shorten 'dormitory' to 'dorm', but never 'dormi', until this book!

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ D E T A I L S
○ WRITTEN ON: D220623
TRANSCRIBED ON: A100723

○ HOURS TAKEN TO READ: Less than four hours
RATING: ☆ ☆ ½ (rounded up to three because Goodreads does not have a half star option)

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another one ticked off of my Jacqueline Wilson back catalogue and it is another nice and easy read to get through. I think this is one of the more recent books that she has written, there were definitely more modern references in this than in a lot of her previous books which was quite interesting to come across. I think because I connect her so deeply with my childhood that it feels weird to see modern references in her books now.

This one follows Stella after she is left at a summer camp while her mum and stepdad go on their honeymoon. The camp is nothing like you imagine a summer camp to be, and Stella absolutely does not want to be there at all. She has to come to terms with it pretty quickly and rub along with the other kids which proves challenging for her.

A fun and quick little read, it’s another one from the list.

[Ruby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nostalgic for me as I first read this when I was still in primary school. I graduated sixth form last year lol 😂 so this was a great read for me. It was my first book post harry potters that actually engaged me. A must read for all 7-11 yr olds 💕

[Rasna hossain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely book spent a lot of time reading this.I really got intrested.

[Alice Hannah Bates]

First jw I read and I was hooked in an instant

Feel sorry for Stella at her hair loss 😆🤔

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must have read this as a child, because when I was little, I had a toy mouse also called Squeakycheese.

[Iman ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

G9ood

[livenca · Rating 4 out of 5]

wow, I wish I was on a summer camp now. I don't know why but Jacqueline Wilson's books always encourages me to do something too.

[Grackoreads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read like 6 times when I was on my own (very boring) summer camp lol like 4 years ago but still

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in school and I couldn’t decide if I liked it or not but I was about to rate it a three but it seemed 3.89 score but I couldn’t do that so I rounded and put a four 4️⃣

[Βαλεντινα · Rating 4 out of 5]

Το διάβασα μέσα σε 2 μέρες ήταν πολύ ωραίο και συνηδειτοποίησα ότι έπρεπε να το διαβάσω πριν πάω κατασκηνωση γιατί συνέβησαν πάρα πολλά παρόμοια πράγματα.

[Niamh · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 stars

[Mailaau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good, I've aged out of the target audience so my view wouldn't be as accurate but I liked this book.

[Charlotte Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book Stella is so much like me

[A · Rating 1 out of 5]

she pissed me off also i had literally nothingg else to read bye

[Sofia White · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5⭐️
Stella is a brat my goodness