‘Tis the Season . . . for Summer Camp, by Rachel Strolle

The books in this list all take place at a variety of camps. As everyone knows, there are so many options of interests to be explored through the season, whether someone has a knack for STEM, soccer, murder…the classic options.

You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron

Bloomsbury, 2023

Pitch: Camp Mirror Lake is a live recreation of the classic slasher, The Curse of Camp Mirror Lake, where counselors and attendees take part in scenes from the film. Charity plays the final girl, but she wasn’t prepared to actually become one, which seems more and more likely as her coworkers have started disappearing…

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When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

Simon & Schuster, 2017

Pitch: Dimple Shah is heading to a summer program for aspiring web developers, which she thinks will be a nice break from her Mamma’s attempts to find her a husband. What she doesn’t know is that Rishi Patel is also attending the same program, which the Patel and Shah parents have arranged as a lowkey way to push them together. 

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Give Me a Sign by Anna Sortino

Penguin, 2023

Pitch: Lilah is a counselor at a summer camp for the deaf and blind, hoping to find a community that she fits in as someone with hearing loss. She isn’t expecting to find love while there, but that’s what emerges in the form of Isaac, another counselor who volunteers to help her brush up on her ASL. 

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Running with Lions by Julian Winters

Interlude, 2018

Pitch: Sebastian is heading into his senior year, and a return to his soccer team, but first he has to get through summer training. Getting in the way of that may be Emir, his former childhood best friend who has just shown up at camp. Now the success of the team that Sebastian loves more than anything may rely on him and Emir making up…

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Look No Further by Rioghnach Robinson & Siofra Robinson

Abrams, 2023

Pitch: Niko and Ali don’t have a lot in common outside of the fact they are at the same summer art camp. At least, that’s what they thought until they are paired up for a genealogy project and find out that they share a father. As the two work to uncover their shared family tree, they both begin to find new aspects of themselves. 

Sunny Song Will Never Be Famous by Suzanne Park

Sourcebooks, 2021

Pitch: After going viral with a more PG-13 than intended cooking video, Sunny is being sent off to Iowa for a month, where she will spend her time at a digital detox camp against her will. While trying to find a way back to the internet, she finds a very cute farm boy and some new friends along the way.

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Dead Girls Walking by Sami Ellis

Abrams, 2024

Pitch: Temple is trying to find her mother’s body, after her father, convicted of being an infamous serial killer, confesses to her mom’s murder. The old hunting grounds have become an overnight camp for horror devotees, so to get a chance to search, Temple joins as a counselor. And then a girl turns up dead in the woods…

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You Don’t Have a Shot by Racquel Marie

Macmillan, 2023

Pitch: Vale is hoping for some escape this summer at her beloved soccer camp, especially after getting into a fight during playoffs with her longtime rival, Leticia. Unfortunately, peace is not to be found at camp, as Leticia is also there, and about to be her co-captain. With college scouts on the line, the two will have to find a way to work together, while also maybe falling for each other on the way. 

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Camp Sylvania by Julie Murphy (& Crystal Maldonado, for book 2)

HarperCollins, 2023

Pitch: Maggie was going to spend her summer at Camp Rising Star, where she’d be part of the spotlight learning the performing arts. But instead, her parents have decided to send her to Camp Sylvania–a fat camp run by a wellness influencer. Aside from the expected horrors, there’s also rumors of a camp ghost and campers have started to go missing…

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Others to check out:

Mirror to Mirror by Rajani LaRocca

Camp by L. C. Rosen

The Counselors by Jessica Goodman

The Names They Gave Us by Emery Lord

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala

Filed under: Middle Grade, Mind the Middle, Mind the Middle Project, Teen Fiction