Janet Lennon at Camp Calamity

by Barlow Meyers, Nathalee Mode (Illustrator)

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Mystery

212 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Gertrude Barlow Meyers was born in 1902. She wrote a number of books for young adults, including westerns, TV series tie-ins (featuring Annette Funicello) and a few horse stories of the ranching/wild horse type.

Reviews

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another book from my grandmother's bookshelves! I used to watch "The Lawrence Welk Show" with my grandparents so I had seen the Lennon Sisters on television. The Whitman books featuring movie/television stars as heroes/heroines were simple, charming easy reads. Today they remind of treasured time spent with my grandparents and are still fun, nostalgic reads.

[Joy Gerbode · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an enjoyable, simple mystery from my childhood. A very quick and light read, but a nice story about a 14 year old who was wise beyond her years! But also about one of the "stars" of my childhood, so a good reminiscing book as well as a nice story.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another book that I owned as a child. It's part of a series, but I don't remember having access to any other titles in the series. I watched the Lennon Sisters on "The Lawrence Welk Show" and thought Janet (the baby of the group) to be quite glamorous.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

How I loved this book of my older sister. The mystery was great, and I read it countless times as a young girl.

[Melody · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the Whitman books I've had since I was 15 so I've read it a number of times. The last time I read it was quite a few years ago but I recall finding it a little disappointing. I couldn't help comparing it to Donna Parker Mystery at Arawak which it did not stand up next to.

SUMMARY:
Fourteen year old Janet Lennon has gotten a last minute invitation to be a counselor at Camp Winhaven. She has to arrive at the isolated mountain camp that night. On the drive there she is passed by a blonde woman driving at a frantic speed and later a man driving even faster. A police officer is chasing the man who ends up crashing down an embankment but emerges unharmed. When Janet arrives at the camp she meets the blonde woman, Mrs. Denton, and is later told by the camp director, Miss Malloy, that the Dentons are going through a divorce and custody battle of their daughter, Marcy. Marcy is being hidden away at the camp as Mrs. Denton fears her husband will kidnap the child.

Janet awake in Cabin Eight the next morning and introduces herself to the girls, who had all been asleep when she arrived the night before. Jo Ellen, a defiant trouble maker, immediately demands to know why Janet is "pretending to be the television star Janet Lennon". Jo Ellen challenges Janets authority by trying to leave for breakfast early and later by refusing to maker her bed. Janet does not let either of these slide; she makes Jo Ellen stay in the cabin, missing her fun camp activities, until she finally agrees to make her bed an hour later.

Miss Malloy approves of Janets actions when they're related to her later in a meeting. At this time she also tells Janet that Marcy is listed in the files under an alias and that no visitors are to be allowed to see her except her mother.

Janet and her girls go for a hike later and stop to watch construction crew who is working on the only mountain road into camp. One of the workers, whom the girls name Bluebeard, seems to stare at them angrily. Once at their hiking destination the girls play hide and seek during which two girls go missing...

You can read the rest of this summary on my blog, vintagegirlsbooks.blogspot.com

Review:
- Janet doesn't think anything of how the janitor goes on about how pretty the little girls are and points out which ones are prettier than the others. Man, this was creepy.

- I think it's important it mentions that "a screaming woman is a criminals biggest problem". I remember my father teaching me this as a child and I think its a great piece of helpful information young children could have learned.

- I like the idea of Marcy's sweater. When I read this book before I had pictured it with every single row a different color but now I think it probably had larger stripes. I've been planning for several years to knit a sweater based off it.

- You can read the rest of this review on my blog, vintagegirlsbooks.blogspot.com

- You can see all the art work for this book and many others at Pinterest.com/nancydrewart

[Kifflie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did some research: As of this writing, the real Janet Lennon is still alive (at 79) and still performing. Interesting. I wonder how it worked out that Whitman got her parents to agree to this piece of Real Person Fiction, given that Janet was still a teenager when this book came out. Anyway, this is a standard girls' summer camp story in which Janet has to help each of her charges overcome a weakness. Oh, and the rich girl gets kidnapped, and Janet has to solve that as well. Aside from the girls' fat shaming of a local highway worker, and a creepy old janitor, this has some fairly good scenes with girls being active and sporty. Not too bad for 1962.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember reading this book when I was a young girl. I found it at an antique store (sigh). It's a fun story - kept my attention even as an adult.

[Jami · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the other Janet Lennon books better, but this one was fine

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whitman book for girls.