Nerd Camp 2.0 by Elissa Brent Weissman - OPTIONAL

Weissman, Elissa Brent Nerd Camp 2.0, 283 pgs. Simon & Schuster (Atheneum), 2014; $7.99. 

Language: G; (0 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (Bullying).

Last year, Gabe had the best summer ever.  He can’t wait to go back to camp this year at the Summer Center for Gifted Enrichment.  Sleep away camp was so fun, he’s helped his step-brother convince his parents to send him to sleep away camp, too.  Zach is going to Camp Seneca, which is a more traditional summer camp.  No science and literature classes for Zach. Learning things is for nerds.  But when a forest fire threatens to close the camp for the summer, and Zach’s camp ends up sharing space with Gabe’s camp, the summer situation turns into a battle between the jerks and the nerds.  

This is a fun camp story, and not a rehash of book 1. (Although, they should be read in order) However, everyone is so stereotypical! The bullies have little redeeming value, and I wonder if they learned anything about getting along, and the “nerds” revel in their nerdiness as a way to fight the bullies.  I had hoped to see the two camps realize they aren’t so different after all, but, well, I guess they are.  Although the book was a fun read, I didn’t like that “cool” kids are bullies and “nerds” are kids who enjoy reading, math and science. 

EL - OPTIONAL  Lisa Librarian