I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by NetGalley. I was not compensated for this review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.
Camp Club Girls: Elizabeth by Renae Brumbaugh Green Series: Camp Club Girls #1
Published by Barbour Publishing on January 1, 2019
Genres: Christian, Fiction, JUVENILE FICTION, Middle Grade
Format: eBook
Source: NetGalley
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What happens when six girls end up in the not only in the same cabin at summer camp, but are quickly embroiled in intrigue? They form a super sleuth ring and call themselves the Camp Club Girls. Each girl uses her special skills—analyzing, spiritual insight, gadgetry, physical skills, research—to help the whole team stump adversaries and master the mysteries they encounter. Join the Camp Club Girls on a series of clue-filled adventures and cheer them on as they crack the case in this entertaining 4-in-1 story collection.What’s REALLY going on at Camp Discovery Lake? . . . When Alexis, Bailey, Elizabeth, Sydney, McKenzie, and Kate end up as roommates at summer camp, they soon suspect there’s more going on than crafts and Bible quizzes. Will they put the puzzling pieces together before time runs out?
What's so important about a missing bag of marbles? Elizabeth and McKenzie are roped into a mystery as big as Texas, when a strange man shows up in town, asking about a special tip left to a waitress thirty years ago. Will their skills be a match for this mixed-up mystery?Is foul play to blame for the strange string of unfortunate events that threaten the River City Cruise Boat business? While helping out with ministry activities at the Fiesta Noche Del Rio on the Riverwalk, Kate and Elizabeth investigate! Will the girls reveal the source of the trouble before the River City Cruise Boat business goes bust?Who's the thief responsible for stealing a valuable Gibson guitar? Elizabeth and Bailey investigate the case in Music City. With only a handful of clues, will the girls be successful in turning up the missing music maker and returning the guitar to its rightful owner? Join the Camp Club Girls as they find hidden jewels, destroy terrorist plots, uncover intrigue, rescue their friends, and so much more. It’s adventure with a capital A!
First things first: Target Audience: 10 to 12 years old. Actual Audience: AARP. Some of that audience discrepancy will assuredly reflect in my thoughts on this book. But I’ll try really hard to keep it balanced. And here’s where I throw myself under the bus. Back when I used to read and review seriously and prolifically I was pretty hot and heavy grabbing books from NetGalley. And. . . when I sort of just walked away one day processing life I had a lot of books still left on my shelf. They aren’t new books but I’m still committed to read and review. I will always give credit that it’s an Old NetGalley with a sense of shame that I dropped that ball but I’ll remain committed, regardless of the personal shame.
Where I struggled with this book. Let’s start with faith. Many times the pressure to get faith into the stories felt stilted and awkward. There were times where it was natural and real but more often than not it felt contrived. The random dropping of Bible verses felt forced is the only way I can explain it. A target audience reader may not feel this way or pick up on it even. Now, keep in mind this is a reprint of stories that were previously released in a different layout. Additionally, I found the pop culture references a bit dated. These are modern girls understanding and knowing references from things when I was a young (songs, TV shows, etc).
Even as the AARP target audience I found this book easy to read. Four separate mysteries combined into one book, each 12 chapters so it really read as a collection of novellas. Because of the novella vibe I’m going to let slide the feeling that there was a lack of solid character development and the way things always just fell into place for the girls with many side story-lines and mystery development dropped. Best I have been able to put together this book (and the remaining ones in the series) takes the different girls and combines their different mysteries into one book about them. With that comes a bit of reference to things that happened with other girls so a keen eye will lead that it’s a bit out of order of how they happened and wrapped more around the center stage girl. My niece is right in this target range but she’s also scary gifted. I feel like she would be one that wanted more. More back story, more development of the story and the situations. But I also think at the end of the day she would have loved this book.
About Renae Brumbaugh Green
RENAE BRUMBAUGH GREEN is a bestselling author and award-winning humor columnist. She lives in Texas with her handsome, country-boy husband, four nearly-perfect children, two not-so-perfect dogs, and about a dozen chickens. In her free time she leaps tall buildings, rescues kittens from trees, and tries to be rugged without breaking a fingernail.
I enjoyed reading your review.