Pack These Page-Turners: The Best Middle Grade Books Set at Summer Camp

The summer camp experience can be a positive (or negative) coming-of-age experience with opportunities to become independent and grow by doing new things and make new friends. I went to band camp, church camp, and dance camp…so many camps! While sleepaway camp wasn’t my favorite for a variety of reasons — homesickness and mean kids, to name a few, many kids look forward to their summer camps all year long.

These chapter books and middle grade books for ages 6 to 12 readers are good reading choices for seasoned campers, first-timers, or kids simply wondering about the sleepaway camp, dreaming of s’mores and bug spray. They capture the highs and lows of summer camp life and the possibilities camp can have on a tween’s life.

I hope your readers find new books to read over the campfire or under the covers!

The Best Middle Grade Books Set at Set at Summer Camp

15 Middle Grade Books Set at Summer Camp

Creature Campers The Secret of Shadow Lake written by Joe McGee, illustrated by Bea Tormo
(ages 6 – 8)
An entertaining story about mythical creatures (and one human) going to summer camp! Norm is a tall Bigfoot who doesn’t want to go camping and hates being different. Norm and his new friends don’t know that there’s a nefarious creature collector named Barnaby preparing to capture a Bigfoot. Relatable themes of feeling like an outsider and making new friends, plus some dry humor make this a fun, readable story.

Campfire Mallory written by Laurie B. Friedman, illustrated by Jennifer Kalis
(ages 7 – 10)
It’s Mallory’s first time at camp and she’s worried it won’t be as fun as her friends tell her.

Camp by Kayla Miller (GRAPHIC NOVEL)
(ages 8 – 12)
Both my daughter and I loved this graphic novel about Olive’s summer camp experience and the challenges of friendship, particularly with a friend who is clingy and jealous. Olive wants to be friends with other people, too. The story feels honest and relatable and a helpful road map to how you might handle your own friendships.

Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol (graphic novel)
(ages 8 – 12)
Russian summer camp is not what Vera was hoping…at least until she finds a new friend. (Which takes a while, lots of valuable life lessons, and many mishaps.) This is a slice-of-life glimpse into the author’s own summer camp experience. The illustrations are in green, black, and white, not full color.

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
(ages 8 – 12)
Three sisters imagine that summer with their mom in California will be magical. They don’t expect to attend a Black Panther day camp, and that their mom wants them out of the way to write her poetry. As they try to connect to their mother, each girl learns more about herself and the world in the late 60s for African Americans.

Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide to Summer Vacation by Tommy Greenwald, illustrated by J.P. Coovert
(ages 9 – 12)
This reluctant reader is forced to go to summer camp for reading and writing — can life get any worse? Hilarious.

Camp Rolling Hills by Stacy Davidowitz
(ages 8 – 12)
Summer camp is Stephanie’s (Slimey, as she’s called at camp) favorite time of year. This year is a little different with changes in friendships, boy crushes and kisses, and pranks on other cabins.

To Night Owl From Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer
(ages 8 – 12)
I loved the genuine voices of these two girls who write emails back and forth. It’s a heartfelt story about two girls, Avery and Bett, whose dads start dating. First, the girls are determined to stop their dads and also not be friends with each other. Then after lots of emails and meetings at summer camp, the girls become friends who actually do want their dads to be together. But that doesn’t work out. What does work out is Avery finding her mom and Bett’s grandma discovering her love of the theater. The next year it works out that the friends go to summer camp together again — and it’s a different experience than the first year — but the life-changing events that happen may just bring together the families again.

The Applewhites at Wit’s End by Stephanie S. Tolan
(ages 8 – 12)
The Applewhite clan is holding a summer camp for creatives hoping that it will save their family from financial ruin. The kids who come to the camp have strong personalities, not unlike the Applewhites themselves, except for E.D. who isn’t all that artistic and doesn’t care for all the chaos. Lucky for everyone, E.D. has a plan to get things under control.

Spy Camp series by Stuart Gibbs
(ages 8 – 12)
12-year-old Ben is accidentally recruited for a secret spy school. Which he kind of loves. Even though people are trying to kill him. And even though he’s not an encryption wizard. This is a fantastic, fast-paced, and hilarious adventure series.

Out of My Heart by Sharon M. Draper
(ages 9 – 12)
You don’t have to be a fan of the first book, to absolutely LOVE and ADORE Melody and her experiences in this wonderful second book. Draper’s writing draws you into Melody’s experience, we feel like we are sharing Melody’s life which is authentic, beautiful, and important for empathy-building and understanding for differently-abled people. In this second book, Melody gets to go to a summer camp for disabled kids and it gives her amazing experiences that she never thought she’d be able to do because she’s in a wheelchair…she swings on a swing and plays outside with friends for the first time, she swims, rides a horse, zip lines, meets a boy who likes her, and dances with that boy!

Just Jake: Camp Wild Survival by Jame Marionette, illustrated by Victor Rivas Villa
(ages 8 – 12)
Jake, his sister, and his dad spend their summer vacation at a survivalist camp filled with crazy and hilarious survival situations.

Growing Pangs by Kathryn Ormsbee, illustrated by Molly Brooks
(ages 9 – 12)
Katie’s homeschooled and has crooked teeth and red hair, but she knows that doesn’t matter because she has a best friend forever named Kacey. But when they start camp and Katie makes a new friend, Kacey gets jealous. But what’s even harder for Katie are the buzzing thoughts that tell her to do repetitive things, which are getting worse. During the school year, Katie and Kacey’s friendship deteriorates as Katie continues to make new friends and try new things like theater. Eventually, Katie tells her parents about the buzzing, and they get her help for what she learns are obsessive-compulsive thoughts. I love this story– the author (and illustrator) skillfully show realistic friendship changes and the challenges of a mental health issue.

Paradise on Fire by Jewell Parker Rhode
(ages 9 – 12)
Addy’s a city kid whose parents were killed in a fire that she escaped. Sent to a wilderness program in California for the summer, she’s surprised to learn that she loves it there; particularly if she can draw maps of her surroundings to know all possible escape routes should a fire happen. Then, the worst does happen. Addy’s on a hike with other campers and counselors when a wildfire tears through the mountains. She knows the best way to safety but it won’t be an easy route and not everyone trusts her to lead. It’s a well-written survival story literally and metaphorically that will enthrall readers.