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Summary
Summary
Ten-year-old Gabe has just been accepted to the Summer Center for Gifted Enrichment. That means he'll be spending six weeks at sleep-away camp writing poetry and perfecting logic proofs. S.C.G.E. has been a summer home to some legendary middle-school smarty-pants (and future Jeopardy! contestants), but it has a reputation for being, well, a Nerd Camp. S.C.G.E = Smart Camp for Geeks and Eggheads.
But, is Gabe really a geek? He's never thought about it much, but that was before he met Zack, his hip, LA-cool, soon-to-be step-brother. Now, Gabe is worried that Zack will think he's a nerd, not only a nerd, but JUST a nerd. A wild summer at camp--complete with a midnight canoe ride to "Dead Man's Island"--makes Gabe realize that Zack may not be the brother he'd always dreamed of, but that doesn't mean they can't be friends.
This clever, fun summer read from Elissa Brent Weissman is full of great minor characters (like a bunkmate who solves math problems in his sleep) and silly subplots (like the geekiest lice outbreak ever). Adjust your head-gear, pack your camp bag and get ready to geek out!
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-5-Gabe, 10, is excited about getting two things he has wanted: a brother and to go to camp. The brother is Zack, the son of his father's fiancee, who is also 10 and lives across the country in L.A. The camp is the Summer Center for Gifted Enrichment. Gabe wants to appear just as cool to Zack as he thinks Zack is, so he keeps the "nerd" details about camp to himself. At SCGE, the campers have lessons in the morning, then traditional camp activities in the afternoon and evening. The campers are typical kids, pulling pranks, whining about some things, and getting homesick; they just happen to be extremely bright. Gabe enjoys his bunkmates and loves everything about camp except the food. Zack is envious of Gabe's experience, so Gabe keeps him up-to-date on what's happening, sort of. He keeps a chart of things he can tell his stepbrother and the details that probably shouldn't be mentioned, e.g., that they like learning the digits of Pi. The boys' characters are well developed and although the three adults play a minor role in the story, they are civil to one another and to both boys. In addition to being a good, humorous story, the book also illustrates that kids who are bright are just kids and can enjoy a lot of different things.-Nancy P. Reeder, Heathwood Hall Episcopal School, Columbia, SC (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
Gabe's father is remarrying and giving him the (step-) brother he's always hoped for, but ten-year-old Gabe realizes almost immediately that cool Zack, also ten, will not be impressed that his new brother is heading off to the Summer Center for Gifted Enrichment, a.k.a. "Nerd Camp." Once there, Gabe loves camp with its interesting classes (e.g., Logical Reasoning and Poetry Writing), its traditions like Color Wars, and his new friends, but he continues to worry about Zack's reaction. As the six weeks go along, Gabe creates a chart of "Things I Can Tell Zack" ("We put music and sports pictures on our walls") and "Things I Can't Tell Zack" ("They are of Beethoven and the rules of badminton"). The title may limit the book's appeal, but kids who are even a little bit nerdy themselves will enjoy the humor and will relate to Gabe's concerns about appearing geeky. Weissman (The Trouble with Mark Hopper, rev. 11/09) gets the small details just right (like the way Gabe and his roommates keep track of how many seconds it takes their bunkmate to get out of his twisted-up sleeping bag each morning), and the relationships and the stories come to a satisfying and reasonably realistic conclusion. susan dove lempke (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Gabe is torn between his enthusiasm for a summer residential program for gifted children and his fear that his new, cool stepbrother-to-be will find out he's a nerd.Just his age, 11, Zack seems like the ideal sibling to Gabe, who has always wanted one. But surfer-boy Zack really doesn't like nerds. All the things Gabe enjoysmath team, reading and the gifted programZack describes as weird.Luckily, sleep-away camp impresses him. Episodic chapters combine camp scenes, letters home and a growing chart of the things Gabe's done he can tell Zack about and the geeky details that he can't. The third-person narration describes the fun of a camp where students write poetry, solve problems and investigate lice with microscopes and also swim, kayak, play sports and compete in a Color War. While Gabe is trying to present six weeks of camp activities in the best light for Zack, he's also choosing them in order to avoid fellow-camper Amanda, a girl who seems to be stalking him but turns out to be someone who could be a friend. The author sets up the thematic conflict believably, but the contrast between Gabe's enjoyment and his social fears gets tiresome. The protesting goes on too long, the resolution is pat and the author's hand and purpose seems evident.This celebration of summer camp and geekiness tries too hard.(Fiction. 9-12)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Perfect for kids whose quest for knowledge isn't satisfied by nine months of school, Weissman's latest novel features an appealing 10-year-old who's more certain of facts and figures than of his worth. Gabe questions his ow. coolnes. when he meets the boy who's about to become his stepbrother; they're the same age but worlds apart intellectually, and Gabe tries to hide from Zack all traces of his own nerdy tendencies. Weissman portrays Gabe as a sweet only child who's as excited about getting the sibling he has always wanted as he is about being admitted to . Gifted Enrichmen. camp. Over the course of six weeks of camp, he revels in his adventures and then analyzes them for their nerdiness quotient, working out logic proofs to help him figure out how much to tell Zack. Weissman depicts a camp whose academic classes sound almost as fun as kayaking and color war. These smart, funny kids learn something from a lice infestation, and it's only logical that Gabe also gains confidence in his own opinions and individuality.--Nolan, Abb. Copyright 2010 Booklist