Customer Reviews

Camp Club Girls & the Mystery at Discovery Lake

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This in the first book in the Camp Club Girls series. This book was about a bunch of girls going to camp. They are put into the same cabin room. At first they do not know each other but they are soon friends and team up to compete in contests at camp. The girls know that they can not let a mean girl named Amberlie win. During the story, they play pranks and meet a stray puppy. Kate takes him in and names him Biscuit.

The main story starts when they find Sydney and Bailey running as fast as they can away from the golf course. They had heard some scary noises when Bailey was golfing. The girls team up to solve the mystery. The girls work together for both the contests at camp and solving the mystery. Kate uses her knowledge and amazing gadgets, Elizabeth uses her leadership skills and knowledge of the Bible, Sydney uses her speed and nature knowledge, McKenzie uses her knowledge of horses and other farm animals, Bailey uses her performing abilities, and Alexis uses her humor and Sherlock Holmes knowledge.

The girls work together to save the day. The girls end up calling themselves the camp club girls. This book was definitely one of the best books I have ever read! I am looking forward to reading the others in this series.

This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy via NetGalley.

I want to recommend Camp Club Girls to every pre-teen girl you know, but I have a few reservations. The book has a lot of action and the story moves quickly, which will attract a young reader. Six girls at a Christian summer camp find a puppy and stumble on a mystery. The girls develop a wholesome and loyal friendship and they try to be nice to the obligatory mean girl in camp. But they hide the puppy in their cabin and spend their free time poking into things that are none of their business. While doing so, they break a few rules and come close to invading someone's privacy. Eventually they realize not everything they are doing is right, but in the end they solve the mystery and are rewarded for it. Their deception and rule breaking are ignored by the adults at the camp.

Aside from this confusing message about right and wrong, the book has a Christian viewpoint and at least one girl has a strong relationship with God. She competes in a Bible memory contest and spends some time thinking about the scriptures she is learning. She wants to please God and her attitude influences the other girls.

At first, I found it difficult to tell the six main characters apart. Point of view changes added to the confusion, although by the end of the book, three of the characters stood out from the others. I also couldn't quite accept the girls' age differences. I don't know any 14 year old who would become best friends with a 9 year old.

Overall, it's a good book and, if you discuss the morality of deception with your young reader, I think you can let her enjoy it.

Pros: Fun story about friendship and loyalty. It's action packed with some pauses for messages from scripture.

Cons: The dialogue is a bit stilted; the girls use big words and clichés. The biggest problem is the deception that goes unacknowledged.

Unsolicited review from my daughter who has read about 8 of these books:

I love the Camp Club Girls' series for three reasons.
1. it has mystery and adventure but it is not scary.
2. it is about girls and I am a girl.
3. they use bible passages to solve the mysteries.

The excitement begins when six girls, strangers to each other, meet at a summer camp. They all have different strengths and weaknesses and form an immediate bond with each other. Their friendship is put to the test when they try to discover what is making weird noises on the run down crazy golf course. This leads to the mystery of who is digging holes and why is a member of the camp staff trying to keep them away from the golf course? Add to this a gorgeous wriggling puppy which they must keep hidden, and you have a delightful book sure to appeal to any age group.

The girls are typical pre-teens, curious about anything and everything. They can also be scared by noises and events they don't understand, but are brave enough to investigate - as long as they don't have to go alone.

I loved the way the different personalities all wove together. The pacifier, the gadget queen, the golfer, the performer, the horse lover and the nature lover. All their skills were put to the test as they set out to solve the mystery surrounding the golf course.

This is a lovely book, captivating enough to keep the reader wanting to find out what's next, but without any of the bits parents often object to. The inspirational part adds a depth to the characters without making them seem like children who can do no wrong.

Camp Girls: Mystery at Discovery Lake is a book I would encourage any pre-teen child to read.

originally posted at: [...]

This is a great book for the nine to twelve year old set. The characters are fun and believable and for the most part talk just like nine to twelve year olds. There's petite Katie with a huge appetite, Bailey who wants to be the next star pro-golfer and Elizabeth who is a kind of mentor to all six of the girls, showing them patience and meekness.

It's refreshing to come across a novel for kids that is innocent and wholesome. There is enough mystery and intrigue to keep a young reader guessing without losing them in the process. And its done in a fun setting - a summer camp. One that I personally can relate to, having worked at a summer camp for four seasons.

This book was provided free of charge by the publisher. No payment was provided in return for this review. The publisher had no editorial rights or claims over the content or the conclusions made in this review.

Camp Club Girls and the Mystery at Discovery Lake is a delightful book for young girls and tweens. It is the first book in a series that focuses on the adventures of six young girls who meet and become fabulous friends at a Christian camp. These girls all have unique personalities but are tied together by sharing the same camp dorm and their love for mysteries.

This first book in the series gives the reader a chance to get to know each girl and work on some sleuthing.

I like that the girls bonded and stood by each other. These are characters that are really good role models of how friends should support each other. There are definitely some hijinx involved, but that is part of the fun. There is also a spiritual component that is really a breath of fresh air. I always wanted to go to summer camp, and when I was a young girl, I would grab any book I could find that related to that. This book definitely would fit the bill.

Full Disclosure: The book was provided by Barbour Publishing in order to do my review. No other compensation was provided. All thoughts are my own.

In book one of the Camp Club Girl series, we are introduced to the campers of cabin 12b. As part of the camp tradition, the girls decided to call their group The Camp Club Girls. The girls quickly bond and find themselves involved in a great mystery.

As a mom, I enjoyed reading this book as it brought back some fond memories of my time at camp. The book reminded me of the Nancy Drew type mystery series - except this is a Christian series and things are not quite as scary. It's an entertaining, light read that will capture the attention of the target audience of 9 to 12 year old girls. While I appreciated the scripture references used in the book, they didn't always fit with the story and, at times, felt a little forced.

My daughter enjoyed the book and couldn't wait to move on to the next book in the series. She had fun getting to know the girls and trying to solve the mystery prior to the girls figuring it out.

Disclosure: I was provided with a free book from Barbour Books to write a review on my blog. No other compensation was received. All opinions are my own.

This is a fun mystery book that brings 6 girls from all over the country together at a Christian camp. They share a cabin and share in fun and solving a mystery. This book teaches about friendship, courage and looking out for each other. I wish there were more of theses books out when I was younger. A good read and although I'm an adult I loved the story and want to read the whole series.

I was attracted to this series at our local Christian bookstore by their covers. The books are very decent, especially when you look at what is available for that age group. There aren't swear words or wrong morals or messages.

Rather unfortunately or fortunately, I have taken writing courses, and look at stories with the eyes biased by what I was taught! I feel that the style of writing is rather amateurish--it sounds like what my daughters could have written. Now, maybe that says my daughters are good writers; I don't know!

We were also reminded to omit anything that was not necessary. The first book in this series had a lot of what I call unnecessary dialogue or situations, areas that could have been omitted and never ruined the story. The adult characters also tended to be a bit naive, and the girls had some strange thought processes.

Other than that, the book was definitely decent and attractive to tweens. I am not sure if I will buy more or not. I feel strange criticizing a series that others rave about!