Marcy Lewis is back, and she’s feeling campy.
When her favorite English teacher, Ms. Finney, invites Marcy to be a counselor-in-training at Camp Serendipity, her creative arts camp, Marcy said yes. Marcy had never had a teacher like Ms. Finney, who encouraged her to write, to use her voice, and to stand up for what she believed in. Her father was not a fan of the teacher.
But now, Marcy has a chance, right before she turns 15, to go off to camp for the summer and help younger kids try to find their voices too. And she gets a chance to get out of her house, where she often quarrels with her dad, and to stand on her own for a while. It’s a big deal for her, and she’s very excited.
And then she gets to the camp. Ms. Finney (“Call me Barbara”) and her husband Carl are there, along with several goats and lots of wildlife. The counselors and counselors-in-training get to camp early to clean up and get ready for the campers, and to get to know each other. And while Marcy learns to deal with the mouse droppings in the cabin, the finger she accidentally stapled, bug juice, and the cute guy who flirted with her before moving on to someone else, she decides she might just have some fun over the summer after all.
Her days are busy, helping her senior counselor Corrine keep their gang of 11- and 12-year-old girls in check. She’s helping with the camp newsletter and the magazine on top of her counselor duties, and she is getting closer to fellow counselor-in-training Ted. She’s sending letters home when she can (and when the goats don’t eat them), and she’s enjoying being on her own fir the first time.
But with the fun comes responsibility, and when Marcy lets some of her new friends down, she is devastated. Will Marcy be able to find the balance between being there for herself and being there for others?
There’s a Bat in Bunk Five is the sequel to The Cat Ate My Gymsuit, both of which were favorite books of mine while I was growing up. Author Paula Danziger has a way of creating characters that feel familiar and warm, like old friends you can share secrets with, and embarrassing moments, and get a little teary with. I always loved Marcy and her stories, and I loved reading these books about her over and over. Even now, decades later, there are phrases that I could still quote, because they still lived in me. I truly adore There’s a Bat in Bunk Five, and I hope other readers will discover Marcy’s stories and adore her too.
