I recently read the book, Love and Pollywogs from Camp Calamity by Mary Hershey. You would find it in a library under realistic fiction. I found the book to be interesting and very realistic. This book was about 10 year old Effie Maloney going away from home for the very first time. This was very exciting for Effie because no one in her family had ever gone on vacation before because her mom was trying to "make ends meet". See, Effie's mom was Effie's only guardian because her father had been arrested for stealing money from people. Effie was delighted to be able to go to camp without Maxey, her annoying older sister, but apparently, that's not going to happen. Also, Effie has to learn how to swim-fast- as she is not the greatest swimmer in the world. Can Effie survive Camp Calamity? Read Love and Pollywogs from Camp Calamity to find out.
The book, Love and Pollywogs from Camp Calamity was a rather interesting story. I found the setting to be rather believable, as if I was in Texas with Effie and Maxey Maloney. Throughout the book I felt two distinct moods coming from main character Effie Maloney. The first mood was radiated by Effie in the beginning of the book when Effie is excited to be going to camp. The second mood was radiated by Effie in the second half of the book when she gets homesick and wants to go home from camp. The writer makes me believe in the characters as people because the characters were kind, thoughtful, and yet, they would get on each other's nerves sometimes and do some irrational things that I thought made them human. I think the author had put in a good amount of information, and there were also parts that left me hanging so that if there ever was another book and this became a series, I would definitely read it. I think the author achieved her purpose and really connected with the kids reading this book. The writing was kid friendly, and the vocabulary was definitely age appropriate. The strength of this book is that kids everywhere can connect to Effie and the other characters. However, I thought that one weakness of this book is that the author dwelled too much on Effie's homesickness. This book is definitely on my top list of realistic fiction books I've read so far. I found the book to be interesting, and the only thing that I think could be improved on is not dwelling on the homesickness for too long. I thought the ending was good, and made me want to read another book featuring Effie Maloney if one should ever come out. I liked the ending because it finished off the story nicely, yet made me want to read more. I didn't learn much from this book, being as it is a fictitious book with no facts, like most fiction books. I would definitely recommend this book because it is a very interesting book that will keep you turning the pages until you have no more pages to turn! As you can see, this is what I think of the book, Love and Pollywogs from Camp Calamity by Mary Hershey.
Reviewer Age:12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Braintree, Massachusetts United States of America
