Slept Away by Julie Kraut

****Slept Away by Julie Kraut****

Originality- 17/20
Characters- 17/20
Remembrance- 8/10

Quote-ability- 10/10
Entertainment- 18/20
Ending- 8/10
Recommend to read- 8/10
TOTAL- 86/100
Grade- B

Laney Parker's a city girl through and through. For her, summertime means stepping out of her itchy gray school uniform and into a season of tanning at rooftop swimming pools, sidewalk dining in the Meatpacking District, and—as soon as the parents leave for the Hamptons—parties at her classmates’ apartments. But this summer Laney’s mother has her own plan for Laney—Camp Timber Tops—and faster than a girl can pack her eye cream, she’s shipped off. Now, splattered with tie-dye fallout, stripped of her cell, and going through Diet Coke withdrawals, Laney is barely hanging on. But when she realizes her summer crush is untouchably uncrushable in the real world, she has to start asking herself some serious questions. Can camp cool possibly translate to cool cool? Sleepaway camp might just turn this city girl’s world upside

Slept Away seemed really cute at first, but I really wasn't convinced that someone would literally forcer their child to go to camp when it's costing them a lot of money. We got to learn a little bit about Laney's family background but not enough for her mother's behavior to be justified. Not only is the trip forced but you'd think Laney would at least pack her own bags and try to make the best of it. But no, instead she lets her mom pack for her and ends up having to wear clothes that she hates. Of course the adds fuel to the fire of the girls being mean to her. Also, I had to deal with endless complaining on Laney's part. At first I was with her, agreeing along, but after a while it just got really annoying.

Redeeming qualities would be the transformation that we get to see Laney go through, and the couple of great, lasting, relationships that she builds. It was really nice to read about a character that not only learns something about herself, but about people in general. Besides the complaing parts Laney was a really funnny character that I enjoyed reading about. I caught myself wanting to quote a lot of what the characters say. Overall I think that Slept Away was a satisfying read good for a summer day.

-Amanda