In this third volume, Natalie is going to summer camp with a bunch of kids from school. Boys in cabins on one side of the lake, girls on the other. Nat is dismayed to find she has to bunk in a cabin with Lily (who used to be her best friend) and not her two current friends. Well, at least they get to do other activities together all day- except her friends want to spend time at the lake, and Natalie hasn’t passed the swimming test yet. She’s afraid of the rumored lake monster. There’s also terribly annoying mosquitoes everywhere, poison ivy patches that of course the kids get into, someone’s pet spider that escapes inside the cabin, and an annoying boy who gives her the wrong paper on a hike so she doesn’t have the map and gets lost. But someone else helps her find her way back. And she starts to face some fears- doing rock climbing and finally at the end, discovering what’s behind the lake monster story when she goes with her friends on a rescue mission across the lake (for the lost pet spider who isn’t in the boys’ cabin after all). She also learns to tolerate being around annoying Millie all the time (the super-cheerful self-center redhead) and finds some sympathy for that girl, and even a bit of common ground with Lily again. Overall a good story about what looks like a frustrating, not-so-great time at camp that turns out to present a lot of character growth and some fun times after all.
Borrowed from the public library. Completed on 4/30/24.
