Moon Camp

April 1, 2021
A reluctant young summer camper expects to have a lousy time on the moon, where there are "no video games or oxygen or ANYTHING fun." Of course, in the end Lucas has the opposite experience--but not before some in-flight humiliation ("Zero-G makes me feel barfy"), having to sleep suspended from a wall hook because the bunk beds are all taken, getting lost on a nature hike, seeing the vacuum toilet, and like horrors. But then the arrival of equally unwilling Sam with a new group of campers results in an instant friendship that makes every part of camping, even the food, exponentially more awesome. Even having to suck "imitation hot dog substitute" through straws doesn't keep anyone around the final, rocket-fueled campfire from agreeing in chorus that Moon Camp is "a gigantic ton of...FUN!!" In the end, back in his bedroom and bathed in moonlight streaming in through the window, Lucas dreamily looks forward to next summer. Both in the all-genders camp and back on Earth, grown-ups, Lucas, and the rest of the bubble-helmeted young campers in Gott's cartoon illustrations display a subtle range of skin tones. Lucas himself is green at barfy moments but more usually has light brown skin; Sam presents Black. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 77% of actual size.) This pre-summer camp anxiety-soother has the advantage of an awesome setting. (Picture book. 6-8)

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April 15, 2021
Preschool-Grade 3 Reluctantly, Lucas goes along with his parents' plan to send him to summer camp on the moon. And just as he expects, it's a dud. Experiencing zero gravity in the rocket ship makes him feel "barfy." As the last kid to disembark, he's assigned a wall-mounted sleeping bag (the bunk beds were taken), and the only activity still available: "looking at rocks." But when the next group of campers arrives and Lucas notices Sam, who looks similarly homesick and miserable, they quickly bond. Everything seems brighter with a friend. Soon they're enjoying nature walks, campfires, and their own "super-double-decker blanket fort." Later, back on Earth, Lucas smiles, remembering moon camp and planning to return next summer. It's a classic summer camp plotline, with an imaginative, space-age twist that adds immediate appeal. In childlike sentences ("There's no video games or oxygen or ANYTHING fun"), the first-person text conveys Lucas' shifting emotions throughout the story. Featuring firm, black outlines, Gott's cartoonlike illustrations use warm colors particularly effectively within gray, lunar-surface settings. An inviting, amusing picture book.

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