KIRKUS REVIEW
A summer camp story, featuring some minor intrigue, a cabinful of unappealing 12-year-olds, and a predictably happy ending. Still smarting from her parents' divorce, Lydia is not happy about spending two months at Camp Bigelow while her mother goes to school in Florence. Eventually, of course, she changes her mind, but readers may not see why. Under the nose of their oblivious, boy-crazy chaperone Dawn, bunkmate Carla begins a campaign of harassment and petty theft against shy Karen, a born victim. Lydia defends Karen at first, then turns a cold shoulder; meanwhile she struggles under a load of divorce-related guilt and writes to her father. He hasn't been in touch for months, and turns out to be as cold and self-centered as her mother and older sister have told her. Feuer (Paper Doll, 1990, etc.) introduces several characters and nascent subplots, then leaves them undeveloped. Lydia herself, though refreshingly forthright in conversation, doesn't come across as very likeable, and her eventual reconciliation with Karen (whom she not only drops, but also steals from) seems quick and easy. Standard fare with a cast of familiar types and a short menu of personal problems, worked out with the help of wise adult advice. (Fiction. 10-12)