The Lightning Circle, written by Vikki VanSickle and illustrated by Laura K. Watson. tundra, Penguin Random House. 2024. $23.99 ages 12 and up

 

"Happy Endings

I saw Heather
reading every minute 
she could. 

We traded favorites, 
and soon 
we couldn't wait 
to talk about books
over gooey marshmallows. 

We cried through
Walk Two Moons, 
and sighed through 
The Life of Bees. 
Swam through Olive's Ocean,
and ran through Heartbeat.

When things get rough, 
Heather reaches for a book, 
taking comfort in a sunny ending
tied up in a big yellow bow. 

Rarely in life
do things ever really end. 

Let alone 
happily."

Summer camps have come and gone. With September's arrival, all the kids will be back in school and looking forward to the coming year, I hope. The return can be trying for some; hopefully, yours will settle in pretty quickly to being with friends, new learning, and all that a new school year brings. 

I am a year late in sharing this notable look at Camp Cradle Rock in West Virginia in 2006. Nora Nichols is reeling from a breakup just prior to arriving at camp. She hopes that camp counselling will provide the distractions she needs. There are six counselors, and they spend time getting to know one another ahead of the arrival of the campers. During the time they spend together they find support, understanding, listening ears and ways to learn about themselves. The nightly Lightning Circle provides the impetus for their sharing that continues a tradition long held at the camp. 

This verse novel reads like a journal, and makes clear the joy found is community and friendship. As they are learning about themselves, they are also getting to know the younger campers in their charge. They share many important moments as their time together passes. Readers will find solace in details that reflect on the natural setting, the experiences that speak to summer camp life, and the relationships that slowly develop as the counselors and campers spend time together. 

The poems are reflected in Laura Watson's digitally colored pencil drawings, and allow readers to see images of the natural surroundings as well as personal portraits of those in attendance. In the end, Nora takes the learning and perspective she has gained home with her. Her first experience at camp is not likely to be her last. 

“Over time
the details will fade,
like our tans
or the Polaroids
we press into our scrapbooks,

but the summer lives
in our bodies now,
where it will whisper to us
for the rest of our lives.”