Not a Happy Camper

Ahh, the primal joys of sleepaway camp . . . Remember those long sultry summer days spent in easy camaraderie with your fellow campers, the sun setting over the lake as you sang "Kumbaya" and contemplated your first kiss? Well, Mindy Schneider remembers her summer at Camp Kin-A-Hurra in 1974 just a wee bit differently. Not a Happy Camper chronicles a young girl's adventures at a camp in the backwoods of Maine where the sun never shines, the breakfast cereal dates back to the summer of the camp's inception (1922), and many of the counselors speak no English--nothing like the fun, kosher (!), sun-soaked Eden that owner Saul Rattner advertised. But hey, it's camp, and it's better than spending the summer squished between her siblings in the backseat of the family's station wagon. And so for eight eye-opening and unforgettable weeks, Mindy and her eccentric band of friends--including Autumn Evening Schwartz, the daughter of hippies who communicates with the dead; and the sleep-dancing bibliophile Betty Gilbert--keep busy feuding in color wars, failing at sports, uncovering the camp's hidden past, and surviving drives in the rickety, carbon-monoxide death trap that is the camp's van. As she focuses on landing the perfect boyfriend and longs for her first kiss, Mindy unexpectedly stumbles across something infinitely grander: herself. Hilarious, charming, and glowing with nostalgia, Mindy Schneider's memoir will awaken all those physical, palpable memories of youth and discovery that went dormant the minute you became an adult and started having actual responsibilities. A must-read for anyone who's ever been to summer camp, or wishes they had.