Camp Average by Craig Battle - OPTIONAL

Camp Average by Craig Battle, 234 pages.  Owl Kids, April 2019.  $17.  

Content: G

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Mack, 11, and his camp friends are looking forward to another year of fun, unrelated to sports, at their favorite place – the one they call Camp Average.  Their preferred chant is “We’re number two”.  They junior campers have a new director this year though, who has changed camp to mold it into a real, competitive sports camp. The Boys, led by Mack, have other ideas. They want the canoes, the camping, the hiking, and the swimming – not the hours and hours on the field.  It's an epic battle of wills between the immovable object and the irresistible force.

I actually do love sports books, but the tug-of-war in this just felt off to me. It wasn’t until the boys have to play in the playoffs and decide that they will play to win that there is anything that I truly loved.  I think I’m tired of these “adults are evil and kids are smarter and stronger” books. I am by no means a fan of the meathead sports mentality, but I prefer a sports book that is about sports – not an “we’re going to take down the adults” book.

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS