(Party) Julie Kraut Reviews and Interviews Jen Calonita

Posted May 8, 2009 by shooting in Uncategorized / 16 Comments

It’s not even officially summer yet and I already know what one of my
favorite summer read is…Sleepaway Girls!

by Julie Kraut, author of Slept Away

Ready for a break from her status as perma-thirdwheel to her best friend and
boyfriend, Samantha Montgomery packs up and heads out to Whispering Pines
for a summer away as a counselor-in-training. This is her first time doing
anything without her bestie, but Sam is ready to branch out. At least, she
thinks she is.

Not even an hour into her first day at camp though and Sam is overwhelmed
with mean girl drama (seriously, these girls will make your camp mean girls
look as sweet as a kitten-a-day calendar), already crushing on the camp
hottie (this guy will make that Abercrombie & Fitch cut out on your wall
look like he better have a good personality), and lying in a mud puddle as
the summer’s first dodgeball casualty.

Fortunately, Sam quickly finds an
amazing group of friends that dub themselves the Sleepaway Girls. They
guide her through her first summer at the Pines, navigate some MAJOR crush
drama, and even help Sam find her backbone. Throw in a bunch of super cute
campers, a questionably crushable guy friend, some possible mom romance, and
an MIA best home friend and Sam’s summer is just getting started.

If this book isn’t on your camp packing list, you totally need to write it
in.

Slept Away author Julie Kraut interviews Sleepaway Girls author Jen Calonita:

1. Who was your camp crush? Don’t skimp on the details, sister.

Danny! I can still see his adorable freckled face, blue eyes and this football jersey he always wore—wait, I can see those things because I have a picture of him in my camp scrapbook, which, of course, I still have, and secretly sometimes flip through. Danny was so crushable, but like most of my crushes, he had a thing for my best friend, Christi. Sigh. I was in the friend zone, but at least I could still drool.

2. Fave camp memory or annual event?

Since we were a day camp that had several sessions, the last day of each session was always the best. There was no set schedule so it was much easier to hang out with the other counselors—which was always my favorite part of camp anyway. Some of the classes would have a talent show, and we’d have a party with tons of junk food. I always liked exchanging cards with the kids and other counselors that day. I remember one counselor that I adored (as a friend—I swear!) wrote me this really nice card and gave me a teddy bear in a tracksuit. I kept that bear for YEARS. I think that was the first time I realized I could have a guy in my life that was cool, funny and amazing to be around, and I didn’t have a crush on him. He was just my friend and I liked that. I was actually maturing!

3. Your most cringe worthy story from camp? Don’t worry, your embarrassing story’s safe with me. I won’t tell anyone but the Internet.

Sadly the most embarrassing thing about camp was my counselor title: Computer Counselor. And I wasn’t even the head counselor! I was the junior computer counselor, which sounds even worse, doesn’t it? While the cool kids were outside playing basketball or swimming, I was stuck in a windowless room with giant, old school computers. There was no Macs in those days, my friends.

4. Ever have any mean girl moments at camp?

Strangely enough, I didn’t have any mean girl moments the way Laney or Samantha do. If anything, the meanest people at my camp were some of the campers. I had more than my share of tantrum-throwing, whiny kids come through my class door. I also had a lot of adorable kids too, which more than made up for the rotten apples.

5. What’s the worst thing you got caught doing? What’s the worst thing you didn’t get caught for?

I’m embarrassed to say that sometimes I used my adorable campers to spy on my crushes. Christi and I were co-counselors and we would have “field trips” during free period and take the kids outside so that we could get out of the dungeon—I mean computer room—and catch some rays. Of course, the true motivation would be to see the counselors we had crushes on so the top priority in whatever activity we planned had to be somewhere near the counselors. “Can’t we play dodgeball?” the kids would plead. “No, no, let’s play hide and seek near the basketball courts instead! It’s much more fun over there!” we’d tell them. And unbeknownst to them, the reason was so we could see Danny, sweaty and sometimes shirtless, dribbling up and down the courts.

Julie Kraut has helped promote Jen Calonita’s campy read, but stop by tomorrow when the tables switch and it’s time for Jen to give a shout out to Julie’s novel. Both will have some contests posted on Sunday, so make sure you comment on these posts to get some entries!

16 responses to “(Party) Julie Kraut Reviews and Interviews Jen Calonita

  1. I just finished Sleepaway Girls, and like Julie, I loved it! It really is a must have for summer.

    Jen seems so down to earth and fun. I loved hearing about her camp experiences because I was always to girly to go!

  2. Hmm, I really should check this book out, having never had a real camp experience myself. (Nor, I think, do I really want one. It’s not my thing. But my alter ego can dream on!)

  3. That’s so funny about playing hide and seek with the kids instead of dodgeball to see Danny. I can so imagine that. The book looks really cool, too. The kind of thing I’d really enjoy.

    Max

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