The No Campfire Girls
book review by Nikki D Paulsen
As we sit back and search for a break from all the holiday whirlwind, a fun book shows up at the top of my reading stack. The No-Campfire Girls by Mark R. Hunter (ISBN 97814497559264)
While people around me are singing “White Christmas” and telling me this snow is a good thing because “We neeeeeeeeed a white Christmas!”…I am heartily sick of snow. Having yet another blizzard in the forecast does not please me.
Escaping into a sultry summer day was exactly what I needed to get my mind off the nasty weather. And this book is just plain fun, set in a “Lookout Girls” summer camp. (Disclaimer – part of the proceeds from this book go to “Friends of Camp Latonka” to assist Camp Latonka, of Wappapello, Missouri with maintenance and operating costs. While I never went to that camp, as the book points out, once you’re a Girl Scout, you’re always a Girl Scout!)
The Lookout Girl’s camp is Camp Inipi, located in southern Indiana. Camp Inipi is in the middle of the county that is part of a county-wide burn ban area, so campfires are forbidden. As campfires are a big part of camp life, the no-open-fires rule causes some muttering and aggravation among the campers.
I like the girls we get to know in this book — Beth, who is a bit of a know-it-all; shy Cassidy, who did not realize how important her heritage was to her until she found herself fighting to defend it; and Rotten Ronnie, who shot off fireworks during the worst drought in thirty years.
The big fire, however, was not caused by the fireworks. It was caused by lightning, which packs a far greater punch than a package of Black Cat firecrackers. The circumstances that placed the teenagers on the front line of the fire crew were both believable and realistic. As the author is a real fireman, the fire fighting scenes in the book actually taught me a few interesting things I did not know!
The No-Campfire Girls is available on the author’s website www.markrhunter.com, on Amazon.com, or can be ordered through your local book retailer.
Yay, thanks for the review! Much appreciated!