Camp Ash 'N Rot

I stood in the doorway of the bunkhouse, one hand on each suitcase handle, listening to the babble of voices inside, terrified to look.

Please be normal, please be normal, please be normal.

Normal? a voice chided in my ear. Normal, like…who? You?

 ***

Leah Rosen is going to have a perfect summer at camp. No one knows her. She knows no one. This is her chance to start over.

But from the minute the bus arrives, things start going downhill. The campgrounds aren't what she imagined. Neither is the staff. And the new version of herself is harder to keep up than she thought.

Every choice she makes to fit in seems to land her in deeper trouble. Soon her perfect summer—and her perfect story—are falling apart. Literally.

She’s juggling a secret that’s growing arms and legs; fragile friendships on the verge of fracturing; a very not-cool laundry situation; and way too many late-night escapades.

She’s barely holding it together. Things are so bad, they can’t possibly get any worse…but they do!

Join Leah in a camp full of surprises, pranks, and disasters, as she navigates friendships, fitting in, peer pressure, and the quiet judgments we make about others—and ourselves.

By Naomi Raksin