Like Bug Juice on a Burger

As a girl, Eleanor's mom loved Camp Wallumwahpuck so much that Eleanor is sure she will, too. But as readers of Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie (rev. 5/11) know, Eleanor is a worrier, and camp offers lots of opportunities for worrying as well as missing home. Right away, she trips on a tree root, scraping up her hands, knees, and chin: "I just lay there, / sprawled on the ground / like dirty underwear." The short lines offer an expressive form for bringing out feelings without harping on them, so Eleanor stays sympathetic, and Cordell's funny cartoon sketches add humor and detail. Through one series of pictures, kids who have never encountered tetherball can see how the game works while being entertained by the gestures the two girls are making as they play. Just as Eleanor has sent off a coded letter to her parents that means she wants to leave, she begins to find activities she enjoys, like visiting a baby goat on a farm. Through hard work in her embarrassingly babyish swimming class, she progresses to the next level, and by the end of camp Eleanor has found much to like. Sternberg gets all of the details exactly right, from the "orange, oozing sloppy joes" to the frustrations of trying to swim in a life jacket. susan dove lempke