Ten-year-old Gabe is super-excited about two things - meeting his stepbrother, Zack, who is also ten, and going to the Summer Center for Gifted Enrichment for six weeks of camp. Unfortunately, while Gabe has impeccable spelling and grammar and gets excited about subjects like logical reasoning and poetry, Zach is the opposite. Zach is cool, and he thinks kids who study for fun are nerds. The last thing Gabe wants is to appear uncool to his new stepbrother, so he purposely plays down his brainy interests, and devises a logic problem to help him prove that he is not just a nerd. Try as he might, though, Gabe can't seem to separate out the nerdy parts of his camp experience from the awesome adventures he has with his new friends Nikhil and Wesley, leading him to wonder whether being a nerd is so bad after all.
Nerd Camp was the winner of the 2011 Cybils Award for Middle Grade Fiction, which is what inspired me to read it. While I am not sure of the book's universal appeal, I will agree that it's well-written and entertaining. Gabe is a very believable ten-year-old boy, who reminds me of at least one child I taught during my stint as a CCD teacher. His "nerdy" interests obviously set him apart as very smart, but the facts he mentions in the text are described in a very accessible way which assumes no prior knowledge on the part of the reader. The camp environment itself is also very well-drawn. I could imagine Gabe's bunk and the other locations he visits very clearly, and I thought the campers were smart, interesting characters who represented much more than mere stereotypes. The entire book, in fact, is a safe haven for nerds, providing a glimpse into a world where being different is not just okay, but accepted.
There are a good number of books out there about kids like Gabe - nerds, geeks, dorks, wimpy kids, etc. - but this is the only one I can name which portrays a completely positive experience. This book really just celebrates being smart and quirky and different, almost without regard for the reactions and opinions of the rest of the world. Kids feeling ostracized by their peers for being smart, or having unusual interests, can take great comfort in this book, and begin to realize other kids like them do exist. My guess is the appeal will be more for boys than girls, because most of the main characters are boys, and the only girl who figures heavily into the plot is described as annoying for most of the book. I also think self-described nerds are more likely to read this book than kids who would consider "nerd" to be a pejorative term, but I'd love to see the discussions that might arise from reading this in a classroom or book club setting with lots of different cliques and interests represented.
Nerd Camp is, overall, an inspiring feel-good read with a wonderfully sweet and memorable main character. Recommend it to readers who have enjoyed The Secret Life of Ms. Finkleman and The Strange Case of Origami Yoda. Kids who like this book might also enjoy An Abundance of Katherines, Into the Wild Nerd Yonder, and Geektastic when they reach their teens. For more nerdy reads, see my Themed Thursday post about Geeks and Nerds.
I borrowed Nerd Camp from my local public library.
1 Comments on Review: Nerd Camp by Elissa Brent Weissman, last added: 3/26/2012
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You had me at Nerd Camp :D