Like Bug Juice on a Burger

February 15, 2013
Nine-year-old Eleanor discovers that it's possible to like some things about sleep-away camp. She thought she would like Camp Wallumwahpuck. Her mother liked it, after all. But the big bus she has to ride from Brooklyn is scary, and the buggy, too-quiet woods even worse. There's no food she likes, and she has to wear a life jacket to jump on the floating trampoline. The story of Eleanor's gradual adjustment is believably told in short lines of first-person narration and dialogue. Kids will find her worries familiar ones. Each short chapter describes a distinct episode and is liberally illustrated with Cordell's line drawings, which sometimes show the unhappy camper and other times highlight small details. This title has the heft and substance of a chapter book but is surprisingly accessible. Its story stands alone. Readers will not need to have met Eleanor in Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie (2011), but as in Sternberg's earlier story, letter-writing plays an important role. Adults are sympathetic and encouraging, and even her cabin mates, at first thoughtless and indifferent, become supporters. In a note on the camp's Wall of Feelings, she discovers that someone else shares her discomfort: "But I don't need to love it / I just need to survive it." Eleanor doesn't just survive, she grows. Readers will celebrate and look forward to more. (Fiction. 7-9)

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April 1, 2013

Gr 2-4-This is a really sweet novel in verse and a good sequel to Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie (Abrams, 2011), though it works fine as a stand-alone. It is summer, and Eleanor's grandmother is sending her to Camp Wallumwahpuck. Though excited at first, she quickly finds herself homesick, as the only camp food she can stomach are the salads and rolls, and her bunk bed is near spiderwebs. Not only that, but she is stuck in the baby swimming group. Eleanor is mortified and miserable and just wants to go home. Of course, it is not long before she finds herself making friends, taking care of an adorable goat, and learning to swim. Maybe camp is not as awful as she thought. Eleanor is a likable character, and kids will relate to her unease at being far away from her family. The ending wraps up nicely, as the story is more about how she copes with a situation that is less than ideal and does not involve Eleanor having a complete change of heart. A good purchase for collections where the first book is popular.-Elizabeth Swistock, Orange County Public Library, VA

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2013
As a girl, Eleanor's mom loved Camp Wallumwahpuck so much that Eleanor is sure she will, too. But as readers of Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie (rev. 5/11) know, Eleanor is a worrier, and camp offers lots of opportunities for worrying as well as missing home. Right away, she trips on a tree root, scraping up her hands, knees, and chin: "I just lay there, / sprawled on the ground / like dirty underwear." The short lines offer an expressive form for bringing out feelings without harping on them, so Eleanor stays sympathetic, and Cordell's funny cartoon sketches add humor and detail. Through one series of pictures, kids who have never encountered tetherball can see how the game works while being entertained by the gestures the two girls are making as they play. Just as Eleanor has sent off a coded letter to her parents that means she wants to leave, she begins to find activities she enjoys, like visiting a baby goat on a farm. Through hard work in her embarrassingly babyish swimming class, she progresses to the next level, and by the end of camp Eleanor has found much to like. Sternberg gets all of the details exactly right, from the "orange, oozing sloppy joes" to the frustrations of trying to swim in a life jacket. susan dove lempke

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2013
As readers of Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie know, Eleanor is a worrier, and a first trip to camp offers lots of opportunities for worrying. But just as Eleanor has sent a coded letter to her parents that means she wants to leave, she finds activities she enjoys. Sternberg gets all of the details exactly right, and Cordell's cartoon sketches add humor.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)