UPCHUCK SUMMER'S REVENGE

Ninth-grader Richie's summer camp misadventures with campers who include nerdy Chuck--last seen ""upchucking"" in Upchuck Summer (1982). Now a counselor-in-training at Camp Twin Pines, Richie is trying to feel mature and in control while making himself attractive to Lisa, another counselor. Instead, he has to bunk with pathetic Chuck and nasty archrival Jerry; his seven little campers are in the same sorry league as the Seven Dwarfs; and he keeps accidentally (and outrageously) offending Lisa. Richie lurches from one embarrassment to another (including a frantic attempt to conceal an untimely erection), ultimately ending up where he swore he'd never be again--in a rowboat with Chuck--who has by now redeemed himself and become a friend. The boat ride also results in Richie's first kiss with Lisa, a welcome change from the year Chuck threw up on him. The jokes here can be relentless, and the last chapter is anticlimactic and forced; but, overall, this is a snappy, consistently funny book for boys--and for girls, who should appreciate the insight into a male adolescent point of view.