The staff at B&N in Woodland Park is THE SWEETEST. One of the booksellers' moms made me a lollypop bouquet. I repeat: A LOLLYPOP BOUQUET. My grandma's friends crashed the party, too! It was a blast facilitating YA trivia, chatting, signing, and all that jazz:) Camp Rolling Hills: Book One Posted on May 7, 2016 in BR Library By Stacy Davidowitz Publisher: Amulet Paperbacks Pages: 240 Age Range: 8 – 12 Years ABOUT A hilarious and heartfelt series about the particular magic of summer camp—a place where reinvention is possible and friends are like family—from a sparkling debut talent. Finally, it’s summer! Stephanie—aka Slimey—has been counting the days until she can return to her favorite place in the entire world, Camp Rolling Hills. And this year she’s especially happy to be back—she’ll have eight blissful weeks away from home, where life has been decidedly rocky. New kid Bobby, on the other hand, is pretty sure he’s in for the worst summer of his life. He does not understand his weirdo cabinmates, the group singing, and the unfortunate nicknames (including his: Smelly). But he does understand Slimey, and the two soon fall in crush. This summer might not be so bad after all! But then a fight sets off an epic, campwide, girls-versus-boys prank war. Bunks are raided! Boxer shorts are stolen! And it’s up to Slimey and Smelly to keep the peace. “Camp Rolling Hills is funny and sweet. It brought me back to those amazing summer camp summers and my very first taste of young adulthood.” —Michael Showalter, co-writer of Wet Hot American Summer REVIEWS “Stephanie (aka Slimey) and Bobby (aka Smelly) learn a lot about relationships in this quirky debut novel, first in the Camp Rolling Hills series. Twelve-year-old Slimey has been a camper at Rolling Hills every summer for as long as she can remember, and she loves almost everything about it. Smelly feels like he has been thrown to the wolves, sent to camp so his parents can work out their marital problems. Moreover, he has to keep “Bizarro Bobby” (“the name he’d given to his anxiety, after Superman’s Bizarro”) in check, hidden from his welcoming and eclectic bunkmates. Slimey senses a connection with Smelly when they talk, especially after she discusses her father’s recent death. When an epic miscommunication complicates the tenuous relationships Smelly has formed, he must rise to the challenge in order to make things right. Spot-on combinations of sweet adolescent romance and teenage angst round out an engaging summer read with plenty of energy and originality to keep kids tuning in for more. Available simultaneously: Crossing Over.” Ages 8–12. Agent: Erica Rand Silverman, Sterling Lord Literistic. (May) —Publishers Weekly “Readers who love camp should feel comfortable with the lively fun, but even noncampers will relate to the theme of friendships renewed. The dollop of romance is the extra marshmallowy goodness cementing the story together. For those looking for a new series to explore, this will more than suffice.” --Booklist So pumped! Come by on Friday, June 10th from 6 - 7 to chat and stuff, and then stick around for YA trivia:)AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: Stacy Davidowitz
Stacy Davidowitz is the amazing author of the Camp Rolling Hills series. INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY: Michaela Why did you write about summer camp? BECAUSE I LOVE IT. Anyone who knows me knows that I tend to write a lot about sleepaway camp. It’s been a major part of my life since I was ten. Also, my family is in the camping industry. My mom runs a day camp in Long Island, my brother is the Assistant Director of the camp we grew up at, and my sister-in-law runs girls’ side there, too. Plus, this series has given me the opportunity to write about kids living together, growing together, and learning together away from their parents. How special is that? Camp is a place where friendships blossom, self-confidence is fostered, and the high jinx is endless. The real question is: Why wouldn’t I write about camp? Did you go to camp when you were younger? Yup! I grew up at a camp in Pennsylvania called Tyler Hill. I went there as a camper, and then stayed to be a Junior Counselor, Counselor, and Head Staff! I still technically work at summer camps... Who is your favorite camper in your book(s)? Melman. She’s brave, athletic, funny, and a really great friend. In the second book of the Camp Rolling Hills series, she really shines! I also love Sophie’s weirdness. Writing such a wild card oddball is super fun. Is there going to be a whole series? If so, how many books? I would love to review them all for you! There IS going to be a whole series. The first two books of the series, Camp Rolling Hills and Camp Rolling Hills: Crossing Over launch together on May 10, 2016. The third book, titled Breakout!, is all about Color War (a weeklong, amazing campwide competition) and will be released in April 2017. The fourth book will be released in April 2018. After that, there might be two more. There are twelve kids total, and the idea is that each book is told from the point of view of one girl camper and one boy camper. So the first book is told from the perspectives of Slimey and Smelly. The second book is Melman and Steinberg. The third book is Jenny and Play Dough. The fourth book is Missi and Wiener. And if there are two more books, the fifth will be Jamie and Dover and the sixth will be Sophie and Totle. The campers grow from 12-years-old to 14-years-old as the series progresses. And yes, I would LOVE reviews for each book! That would be amazing! What is your favorite camp activity? Color War, for sure. That’s the weeklong, amazing campwide competition I mentioned earlier. The whole camp is divided into two teams that compete in everything from sports to trivia to apache relays to rope burn to singing to dancing to scavenger hunts! If you could become any character in your book(s) who would it be? Why? Slimey. She’s sweet, artsy, sensitive, optimistic, and has an undying love for camp. Maybe Play Dough for a bit, too. He’s adored by his friends and gets to eat snacks he hides in his socks. Who is your all time favorite author? Book? All time favorite author...hmm...that’s super hard. I love Tim Federle. And Dr. Seuss. And John Green. And I truly love the book Wonder by R.J. Palacio. I read A LOT of plays, probably more than books actually, since I’m also a playwright. So if you have any top recommendations for middle grade or YA books, let me know, and I’ll recommend you some plays:) Advice for young writers? Let your imagination ride the train to where miracles happen. Allow your characters to be your best friends. Have them join the circus. Be patient. And kind to yourself. Let your friends in on what you’re writing. Be bolder than bold. Learn to love revising. Treat yourself to good snacks while doing all of the above. If you’re ever stuck, email me, and I’ll send you a very random prompt. Any other interesting facts/info you would like to share about yourself and/or your book? Sure! Did you know that Camp Rolling Hills was originally a musical?! That’s right. Camp Rolling Hills is a musical with music and lyrics by Adam Spiegel and book and lyrics by David Spiegel and me. You can listen to the music and check out some recent production photos on the Camp Rolling Hills website. We premiered in March in San Diego and have an upcoming production in June in Connecticut! www.camprollinghills.com Thank you so much Ms. Davidowitz for allowing me to read your books and interview you! I can't wait to read the next books in the series. You can find more information about Stacy Davidowitz at her website. Book Review: Camp Rolling Hills by Stacy Davidowitz
Posted on May 27, 2016 by Cindy Hudson Slimey loves everything about Camp Rolling Hills, and she can’t wait to spend her summer there. Robert, aka, Smelly, is a first timer, and he would surely be at baseball camp if his parents hadn’t made him go to Rolling Hills while they try to patch up their marriage. When Slimey and Smelly meet, they are instantly attracted. Soon, they are confiding things in each other they feel they can’t tell anyone else. But after a misunderstanding at the camp dance, the boys’ cabin and the girls’ cabin trade pranks in an escalating war. It may be up to Slimey and Smelly to patch things up with the two groups. Camp Rolling Hills by Stacy Davidowitz is a great summer read for children aged 8 to 11, whether they attend summer camp or not. Davidowitz captures the mix of emotions that can arise when kids get to spend weeks at a time with each other in a place where they may experience camaraderie, acceptance, rejection, loneliness, and more. At times laugh-out-loud funny, this opener in the series sets the stage for stories about a range of campers with different personalities, which I expect will unfold with more books. It’s a fun world to enter. Letters home from several characters helps readers get to know them and their quirks, as does journal entries, sketches, and other bits of information. The publisher provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Awesome Authors
So many outstanding children's book authors and illustrators stop by Bank Street Book Store that we feel we are everyone's favorite shop around the corner. Just last week we had visits from Stacy Davidowitz ("Camp Rolling Hills"), Anna Raff ("Big Surprise for Little Card"), and Sarah Mlynowski ("Whatever After" series). Check out books by this terrific trio as well as other great titles for summer reading. Blog Type Terms: Bank Street Bookstore AnnBookworm's blog Just finished a SUPER FUN author visit for the AMAZING fifth and sixth graders at Chatterton Elementary School in Merrick, Long Island, my hometown! We read, acted, laughed! Can't wait for the next visit to Lakeside Elementary School, where I went, on May 31st!
I am so overwhelmed by the friends, family, co-workers, collaborators, co-workers, and students who came out to celebrate! The whole night was magic:) Read full interview here.
STACY DAVIDOWITZ #CAMPBREEDSWINNERS May 13, 2016 MEET STACY DAVIDOWITZ, PLAYWRIGHT, SCREENWRITER, & AUTHOR Q&A WITH TYLER HILL CAMP ALUM What sparked your interest to become a writer? There’s something about holing up with my laptop that makes for a wild Saturday night. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I come from a theatre background—even earned my MFA in Acting—and both writing and acting allow me to step into alien shoes and play. But as much as I love acting, I find writing to be extra fulfilling—my characters can say what they want to say, I can say what I want to say, and I can take enormous risks while eating cereal in bed. It’s awesome. One of my earliest writing memories is at camp, staying back from Canteen to create camp-set horror stories to read to my bunkmates before bed. Maybe that’s where the spark originated—from the high that comes with sharing. It’s palm-sweaty scary to write something and then release it into the world, but it’s also the most gratifying part of the job. Was it super easy and fun to write your latest books because they were about camp and you love camp? Okay, let’s break this one down. Super easy? Nope. Writing books is hard! Before the camp series, I was exclusively writing plays and screenplays. I pretty much had never written prose. I think the last short story I wrote was in fifth grade about eating bagels at the beach. The book took years to write—it transformed from eleven points of view to five to two. It went from first person to third person omniscient to close third person. It went from present to past tense. Truly an adventure—I learned huge amounts. Content-wise, however, SUPER EASY AND FUN. A lot of other stuff I write requires months of research. This series, it just flew out. There’s so much to delve into, I didn’t even touch Color War until the third book! And sidenote: Do you know what a dream it is to professionally write Color War SING songs? How many years did you attend camp? I pretty much transitioned out of diapers, went to camp, worked at camp, and even now I work at a summer program for high schoolers. Did any of your counselors make a difference in your life? Oh, for sure. My very first counselor—we were penpals for four years. One of my counselors set me up with my first boyfriend and made me feel infinitely cooler than I was. Another used to wake me up before reveille to go for runs. We’d talk about life and what makes us happy—she was really inspiring. In general, my counselors helped build my self-confidence when I was knocking it down. They made me appreciate being a kid, and they made me look forward to growing up. Are you still friends with any of your camp friends? Yup! I was the last of my age group to leave Tyler Hill Camp and so a lot of the camp friends I stay in touch with were my co-counselors, as well as the campers I watched grow from freshmen to CITs. My babies are now college grads—it’s insane. Do any of them work in your field? As far as I know, no one works in theatre or is a writer, but absolutely in the education field, which I’m also immersed in. Also, does the field of camp count? One of my camp friends runs Summer 365 and my family works in camping as well! How often do you talk/see each other? My family? Often. My camp friends? A lot of them I made as a counselor live in Canada, so we love each other through our screens. All my other camp friends I see once in a while, but when we do connect, it’s the best. What did you learn at camp that has made a significant difference in your life? I learned to take risks. To be my big ol’ weird self. To resolve issues through song. To lead. To listen. To sleep through noise. To clap at skunks. To hide visiting day candy. To laugh so hard you pee a little. To cry. To kiss. To compete. To open up. To raid. To love with all your heart. To roast the perfect marshmallow. If you could add any activity to your camp, what would it be and why? Literally everything that pops into my head exists or has existed at Tyler Hill. Pudding Wrestling? Check. Scuba Diving? Pretty sure that’s a check. Maybe Bungee Jumping? Actually, no. That sounds terrifying. Anything you recall trying at camp for the first time that you would never have tried otherwise? Hypnosis. When I say “craziest camp memory,” what comes to mind?!
If you had super powers, what would they be? The power to get swarmed by cockapoo puppies, but for just five minutes. Then it’s back to work. |
Stacy DavidowitzAuthor of the 4-book Camp Rolling Hills Book Series! Order here! Archives
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