Books for Kids, Tweens, and Teens That Capture the Summer Camp Experience
For many kids, summer camp is an important rite of passage and will leave them with memories to cherish. It's a time to experience independence from parents, make new friends, try new things, and enjoy the Great Outdoors. The books below—for kids, tweens, and teens—are all set at sleepaway camp and capture many of the traditions and emotions of the camp experience. Some titles are realistic fiction and deal with the worries a young child might feel being away from home for the first time or the ups and downs of new friendships (or romances), while others play up the longstanding tradition of mystery and ghost stories related to camp.
Kids
Like Bug Juice on a Burger
by Julie Sternberg; illustrated by Matthew Cordell
Eleanor is off to summer camp. At first, she’s excited to carry on the family tradition at Camp Wallumwahpuck, but when she gets there she finds icky bugs, terrible food, and worst of all: swim class, where she just can’t seem to keep up with everyone else. But as the days go on, Eleanor realizes that even the most miserable situations can be full of special surprises and that growing up is full of belly flops.
Summer Camp Critter Jitters
by Jory John; illustrated by Liz Climo
Duck, bear, and sloth must find a way to get over their nervousness at summer camp so that they can have some fun and make new friends.
Amelia Bedelia Makes a Splash
by Herman Parish; illustrated by Lynne Avril
Sent to an old-fashioned, all-girls sleepaway summer camp, Amelia Bedelia looks for ways that her camp can cooperate with a high-tech computer camp across the lake, where her cousin is spending his own summer break.
Heidi Hecklebeck Goes to Camp!
by Wanda Coven; illustrated by Priscilla Burris
Heidi is excited about spending two weeks with Lucy at Camp Dakota, but Lucy's friends from last year ignore Heidi and make her feel unwelcome, leading Heidi to cast a friendship spell on them.
Cam Jansen and the Summer Camp Mysteries
by David A. Adler; illustrated by Joy Allen
A collection of three Cam Jansen summer camp mysteries in which Cam Jansen and her best friend are spending three weeks at Camp Eagle Lake, where they play sports, do crafts, and solve three mysteries.
Froggy Goes to Camp
by Jonathan London
Froggy goes to a sleep-away camp, where all of his fun seems to cause trouble for the camp's director.
Shark and Bot: Sleepaway Champs
by Brian Yanish
Shark and Bot, the two most unlikely friends, are back for more hilarious and epic adventures! It's Summer vacation and Shark and Bot have a new adventure—at sleepaway camp! Shark (always a nervous nelly!) quickly starts feeling homesick. Can he make it through the week? Will Bot short circuit at the lake?
Fuchsia Fierce
by Christianne Jones; pictures by Kelly Canby
Fuchsia Fierce was a quiet, shy, and timid girl—until she spent a summer at Camp Confidence, and learned just how much she could accomplish when she tried.
Arthur Goes to Camp
by Marc Brown
Arthur is not looking forward to Camp Meadowcroak, and when mysterious things start happening there, he decides to run away.
The Jellybeans and the Big Camp Kickoff
by Laura Numeroff and Nate Evans; illustrated by Lynn Munsinger
When four friends with different talents and abilities go to summer camp together, they use their strengths to make camp fun for all.
Middle Grade
Mirror to Mirror
by Rajani LaRocca
Unable to find their rhythm, once-close twin sisters Maya and Chaya make a bet: they'll switch places at summer camp and whoever can keep the ruse going the longest will get to make a life-changing decision, which isn't as easy as it sounds.
Second Chance Summer
by Sarah Kapit
When twelve-year-old former best friends Maddie and Chloe arrive at camp and discover they are cabin mates, they must decide if they want to continue staying mad at each other or give their friendship another go.
Long Distance
by Whitney Gardner
To settle into her new life in Seattle, Vega’s parents send her to summer camp to make new friends, but instead, Vega finds herself plunged into a mystery when things at camp start getting stranger and stranger.
It Doesn't Take a Genius
by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
Emmett finds a new group of friends at summer camp since his older brother, Luke, is a junior counselor and doesn't seem to have time for him anymore.
Camp
by Kayla Miller
Olive is sure she'll have the best time at summer camp with her friend Willow—but while Olive makes quick friends with the other campers, Willow struggles to form connections and latches on to the only person she knows—Olive. It's s'more than Olive can handle! The stress of being Willow's living security blanket begins to wear on Olive and before long ... the girls aren't just fighting, they may not even be friends by the time camp is over. Will the two be able to patch things up before the final lights out?
Be Prepared
by Vera Brosgol
A misfit girl and her brother attend summer camp, where they struggle with primitive plumbing, snobby tentmates, and boys-versus-girls competitions.
Camp Average
by Craig Battle
When a new camp director, who is obsessed with winning, pushes Mack and his friends into a high-stakes baseball tournament and an intense training schedule, the boys come up with a plan of their own.
This is book one of the Camp Average series.
To Night Owl from Dogfish
by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer
Unhappy about being sent to the same summer camp after their fathers start dating, Bett and Avery, two girls, age eleven, eventually begin scheming to get the couple back together after a break-up. Told entirely through letters, emails and text messages.
The Lumberjanes series
created by Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, and Noelle Stevenson
Best friends Jo, April, Mal, Molly, and Ripley spend a fun summer at Lumberjane scout camp where they encounter yetis, three-eyed wolves, and giant falcons while solving a mystery that holds the fate of the world in the balance.
In addition to the graphic novel series, there is a related series of Lumberjanes novels written by Mariko Tamaki.
Holler of the Fireflies
by David Barclay Moore
Learning about income inequality, racism, and hidden agendas while at STEM Camp in a little Appalachian town, Javari meets a local boy, budding activist and occasional thief, who shows him a different side of the holler, blowing his mind wipe open.
Camp Murderface
by Josh Berk and Saundra Mitchell
The year: 1983. The place: Ohio. The camp: Scary as heck. Camp Sweetwater is finally reopening, three decades after it mysteriously shut down. Campers Corryn Quinn and Tez Jones have each had more than enough of their regular lives—they’re so ready to take their summer at Sweetwater by storm.But before they can so much as toast one marshmallow, strange happenings start…happening. Can they survive the summer? Or will Camp Sweetwater shut down for good this time—with them inside?
Teens
Camp
by L.C. Rosen
At Camp Outland, a camp for LGBTQIA teens, sixteen-year-old Randall "Del" Kapplehoff's plan to have Hudson Aaronson-Lim fall in love with him succeeds, but both are hiding their true selves.
You Have a Match
by Emma Lord
When Abby signs up for a DNA service and discovers she has a secret sister—shimmery-haired Instagram star Savannah Tully—it’s hard to believe they’re from the same planet, never mind the same parents—especially considering Savannah, queen of green smoothies, is only a year and a half older than Abby herself. The logical course of action? Meet up at summer camp (obviously) and figure out why Abby’s parents gave Savvy up for adoption.
Sunny Song Will Never Be Famous
by Suzanne Park
A social media influencer is shipped off to a digital detox summer camp in this funny coming-of-age story.
The Box in the Woods
by Maureen Johnson
Stevie Bell just managed to solve the mystery at Ellingham Academy. Then she gets a message from the owner of Sunny Pines—formerly known as Camp Wonder Falls, the site of the infamous Box in the Woods murders. The new camp owner wants Stevie to help him work on a true-crime podcast about the unsolved case. Going undercover as a camp counselor, Stevie learns that something evil still lurks at the camp—and The Box in the Woods is willing to make room for more victims.
Part of the Truly Devious series.
Lola at Last
by J.C. Peterson
After causing a fire on a party boat, Lola Barnes is sent to non-profit camp Hike Like a Girl, where she finds something she’s been missing all along—friends, romance, and a strength she didn’t know she had.
Long Story Short
by Serena Kaylor
Attending a theater camp to prove to her parents that she can be a “normal” teen, mathematical genius Beatrice Quinn learns about friendship, love, and being herself as she navigates a world outside of her comfort zone.
The Days of Bluegrass Love
by Edward van de Vendel; translated by Emma Rault
Deciding to break away from everything, Tycho Zeling flies to America to spend his summer as a camp counselor, where he meets Oliver, another counselor, and feels his life stop, and finally begin again, as his.
Just a Boy and a Girl in a Little Canoe
by Sarah Mlynowski
Anticipating a disastrous stretch at summer camp in the aftermath of a breakup, counselor Sam unexpectedly falls head over heels for the camp’s sailing instructor, Gavin, who invites her to join him for starlit canoe rides.
Summer at Meadow Wood
by Amy Rebecca Tan
A girl finds unexpected support and healing after reluctantly rejoining her friends at summer camp, while her mother navigates a crisis at home that will completely change their family.
The Counselors
by Jessica Goodman
After a traumatic school year, camp counselor Goldie Easton is excited to reunite with her two best friends at an elite summer camp, but when a local boy is found dead on the grounds, all three must reveal a dark secret to find the murderer.
Camp Spirit
by Axelle Lenoir
Forced to take a job as a summer camp counselor, Elodie finds herself responsible for a horde of foul-mouthed girls while investigating a dark mystery lurking around the camp.
The Lake
by Natasha Preston
Seventeen-year-old best friends Esme and Kayla return to Camp Pine Lake as counselors in training, but the dark secret they have been hiding for nine years is back to haunt them.
Summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.