CHICK GRIT

A confident city girl’s parents drag her to a North Dakota historical reenactment camp for the whole summer in Burrows’ YA series starter.

Fifteen-year-old Chloe Crandall has never understood her history professor parents, preferring instead to focus on fashion, her role as “social director” for her Manhattanite friends, and her reporting for the school newspaper. She’s unprepared when her parents announce that the family will be spending the summer at the Dooleyville Black Powder Rendezvous, an ultra-accurate historical reenactment site in rural North Dakota; it’s aimed at fans of the 1830s fur trading era known as “The Shining Times.” There, Chloe feels stranded without any of her modern comforts, and the reenactment veterans regard her as a nuisance. Things get more complicated as Chloe becomes ensnared in family feuds, star-crossed romances, rowdy cowboy concerts, tomahawk competitions, and even life-threatening natural disasters. All the while, she tries to stay true to herself—and maybe catch the eye of the camp director’s handsome nephew in the process. Burrows employs a witty narrative voice and a unique setting that informs readers about the 1830s frontier and the world of avid historical reenactors. Burrows touches on such pertinent topics as the importance of natural preservation and the plight of small family farms under the thumb of corporate interests. However, certain White characters problematically role-play as 19th-century Native Americans, and little time is spent reflecting little on the experiences of actual Indigenous peoples. That said, the Rendezvous and its inhabitants feel convincing and well-developed. The real star of the show is Chloe, whose strong personality and nuanced first-person perspective makes her a likable and relatably flawed protagonist. The increasingly wild situations test her mettle but also allow her to grow into a more resilient person.

An often clever and tightly paced YA romp.