Monster Camp

The founder of Evermore Middle School’s Monster LARPing Club, 11-year-old Sylvie Shaw loves to embrace her inner monster, constantly role-playing as a vampire to remain connected to her late horror-fan mother. Glad to have Sylvie interacting with others instead of constantly watching monster flicks, her father plans to send her to summer camp but forbids Monster Camp, which promises a full week of fully immersive monster role-playing. Finding a way to attend via a nearby survival skills camp, Sylvie doesn’t take long to discover that Monster Camp isn’t for would-be monsters, but for real ones—ghosts, werewolves, witches, vampires, and more—and that she must somehow prevent anyone from realizing she’s a human in their midst. What starts out as worrisome eventually becomes fun, but how can Sylvie remain true to the camp’s motto of “be kind and be yourself” when she’s misleading others? Via an eerie but endearing summer camp setting, this middle grade debut from Henning (It’s All in How You Fall) considers the cost of intolerance and what it means to belong, as seen through the eyes of a resourceful protagonist trying to find herself and her people. Sylvie cues as white. Ages 8–12. Agent: Whitney Ross, Irene Goodman Literary. (May)