Fat Camp

Nutritionist Deborah Blumenthal provides a fun summer story of a super-sized girl who is sent to an unusual camp: it's a camp for the overweight, and Cam is sent there to eat controlled portions, exercise, and change. She misses food and her best friend - and with humor relates a celery-toasting campfire and smuggled forbidden foods from home. FAT CAMP is a fine story about unwilling changes - and fun. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch

I really liked this. It tells the story of a girl who goes to a fat camp for the summer. By the time the summer ends, she learns a lot more than just how to cut calories. In her bunk she meets a girl who has bulimia, and somebody else who's totally thin because she lost the weight before she got there and is desperate to stay thin. I got really drawn into Cam's struggle to find out who she is, and her relationship with Jesse, a hottie guitar player at the nearby boy's camp.

For many teens, going off to summer camp is something of an adventure. There are new friends to be made, new experiences to try out, exciting adventures that await. For others, camp doesn't sound like such fun. And for a smaller, more rare group, summer camp is the equivalent to prison--especially for someone like Cam Phillips. She's being sent off for the summer to Camp Calliope, which is, for all intents and purposes, a fat camp. Her mother wants Cam to stop her "self-destructive" cycle, her father just wants to keep the family peace, and Cam, well, Cam doesn't seem to have much choice in the matter. Ever since she can remember, Cam has been pudgy. When she was younger, it didn't really bother her, but now that she's a teenager and can see the repulsive way she looks in a two-piece bathing suit, she knows it's not the way she wants to live her life. But she's tried self-control, she's attempted Weight Watchers, she's even gone the route of self-bribery. Nothing seems to work for long, and now her parents have decided that a summer filled with controlled portions of food, plenty of rigorous exercise, and the fresh, clean air of the outdoors is just what she needs. For Cam, though, Camp Calliope represents something else. What other group of people, anywhere in the world, is discriminated against like overweight individuals? And then, on top of the discrimination, are asked outright to change? So now it's no more french fries, no more ice cream, no more best friend, Evie, who is away at Tennis Camp meeting gorgeous instructors and equally hunky players. Instead, she finds the other camp residents to be a strange mix of overweight, underweight, and everything in between. There's Carla Valentine, who at 5'10" and 120 pounds seems like the least likely to need a fat camp. There's Summer, who is determined to succeed with her weight loss at any and all costs. There's Faith Masters, the only girl who Cam can imagine becoming friends with. And then there's the counselors, and the guy who takes them on hikes, and the one who oversees the rowing, and on and on and on. Last but not least, there's Jesse, the only boy that Cam might be attracted to. Girls and guys don't mix very often at Camp Calliope, but she just might be able to squeeze in some alone time with Jesse. For Cam, going away to fat camp might not be what she expected after all. There might be weight loss, there might be a healthier style of living, but more importantly, she just might realize that looks aren't everything. For Cam Phillips, Camp Calliope might be filled with friends, fun, and adventure after all.

Camp.. One of the many things kids enjoy during the summer. But not for Cam. Her camp consists of nutrition classes and mini sized portions of food. Yes, a fat camp which her obsessed workout parents made her go to. She and her best friend, Evie, are separated and are forced to go to different camps. Now, she has to sleep in a room full of girls who only talk about food and how "fat" they are. She thinks it is all down hill from here but to her luck it's not. She meets a boy, Jesse, who she falls head over heals for. Now she has to juggle the love of her dreams, mailing her best friend, and dealing with the other girls at camp. Can she do it all and lose weight before the end of the summer? At first, I was kind of bored of the book. In the beginning it only talks about her love of food and the 'hot' waiter. I thought it was going to be another book where girl goes to camp, makes friends, loses weight and looks amazing. Well, I was wrong. Yes, that does happen but it is more in-depth than I thought. After chapter 3 or 4, I really got into it. You see a girl dealing with social and emotional issues that many teenagers are facing today. At the camp, there are other girls who are also going through health issues such as bulimia and depression. Deborah Blumenthal did an amazing job of slowly breaking Cam out of her shell. The ending was somewhat of a surprise. I kind of knew what was coming but there was more that I would have ever guessed. Overall, I thought it was an astounding book. Reviewed by a student reviewer for Flamingnet Book Reviews www.flamingnet.com Preteen, teen, and young adult book reviews and recommendations