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mehsi's review against another edition
1.0
What a terrible book. :| Stella was just annoying and a big fat brat. Seriously, the stuff she did, the amount she whined, dear Lord, you would think her mother put her on a train to Siberia or something. Karen and Louise were horrendous, the camp sounded terrible with terrible staff (OK, 2 characters were nice).
heylancie's review against another edition
3.0
This review features spoilers!!
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ R E V I E W
< P O S I T I V E S >
○ I was really surprised by the plot twist in this book! The wailing Stella had been hearing was a fox, that Mrs Markham was hiding in her room. It was this fox that had ripped Stella's book, when Mrs Markham was cleaning Stella's room. This explains why Mrs Markham got Stella's book fixed, and didn't ask Stella how it got ripped.
○ Because Stella accused Karen of ripping her book, Karen didn't want to join Stella's magazine. Anyone who contributed to the magazine was not allowed to enter the quiz. This meant Karen was able to enter. Despite not answering the questions in the quiz very well, Stella let Karen win. More than that, Stella gave her new 'designer' t-shirt to Karen as a prize. This was especially nice as Stella had observed Karen did not have 'designer' clothes, like her friend Louise. I love this!
○ Although it was a little cheeky and sarcastic, overall I did enjoy the instructions for making biscuits! Reading instructions sounds boring, but James simplified it for 'complete idiots'. He made it casual/informal, instead of professional, which turned out to be pretty honest and funny!
○ I really did think Rosemary was going to have to abandon her toy donkey in the cowpat. Therefore, I was really impressed Stella risked staying behind the rest of the group to clean it in the stream for her!
< N E G A T I V E S >
○ After Stella's mother contacting this summer camp before Stella attended, as well as speaking to a staff member upon arriving, I thought there was no way Stella would have to swim... Stella had to wear a spare swimming costume, despite her mother having comforted her by saying she couldn't swim if she didn't bring her swimming costume! Stella had two swim sessions a day, more than anyone else, she said. Throughout the book she was 'nearly crying', 'scared' and 'choking'. As she rightfully said on page 152, 'I was all tense and terrified because I couldn't swim'. I don't blame her, this is traumatic! I haven't even mentioned the fact her team, who would loose a lot of points because of Stella, lost at least one team point because she didn't want to swim. This was announced not just in front of her team, but the whole dining hall of all the children at the camp!
○ There were also hypothetical references to being hit, lashed, licked and many exaggerated references to dying and killing. Oh, and when a distant wailing sound ceased, Stella wondered if 'it' had been 'smothered, gagged or drugged'!
○ Stella might've said her instructors/leaders were harsh, but she was pretty annoying too! One of them referred to young girls as 'pretty' and 'ladies' which was a bit weird, but two characters, one of which was Stella, peered in on him getting changed was far weirder!
○ Stella decided to kiss her Brigadier after he, annoyed she did not participate in the swimming gala, took her aside after the other children left, to show him her swimming. What?!
○ A character was asked where she was from, for the second time, because 'You're black', and apparently, therefore, cannot be from Croydon (England, the UK), as she just said. This wasn't the only nationality-related issue in this book! Stella drew a 'Red Indian' with 'scarlet' hair, teeth and hair, saying he was the 'reddest Indian ever', to the point she decided to draw a fire beside him! I know this book was written in, and therefore likely set in the 1980s, when people generally did not respect native groups of people as much as nowadays, but this is still disrespectful, in my opinion, regardless. One thing, I might've let off, but there's two!
○ Stella liked when a young girl looked at Stella 'like that', which Stella elaborated, was a situation where Stella was like 'a queen' and the young girl was her 'maid'. What?!
○ Stella was worried about boys untying her swimming costume(!), despite the most concerning thing a boy ever did was speak in cringey, unnatural spoken rhymes!
○ Stella referred to herself as being like 'a boy in drag', because she was a girl with short hair, wearing a dress. Stella's age is never specified, but I'm guessing she's about ten, and I really HOPE most ten year olds don't know what 'drag' is.
○ Why was 'pants' used in American English by a British author in a story set in the UK? Why was Stella's parents referred to as 'going to Europe', when England, the UK, where this is set, is IN Europe? Why was Louise specified as having a crush on Alan, just for this to never be mentioned again?
○ Why was forcing Stella to swim, children drinking tea (very hot!), and what is misinterpreted as blood on Stella's pajamas all not a big deal, but Karen falling off her chair was a major concern?
< N E U T R A L >
○ Stella called her uncle and a leader at the camp 'uncle' despite being related to neither. I know some cultures/languages/contexts use a word such as 'uncle', as a word of respect (similar to 'father' for a priest), but if this was the case, it was not explained.
○ The cringey spoken rhymes remind me of the movie 'Mr Popper's Penguins', which had a character that spoke in alliteration. Strangely, I watched that movie the day before reading this book. More than that, that movie has a character called 'Janie', a name I claimed to have never heard before when watching that movie, and this book also has a character called Janie! Another coincidence is that when I attended a summer camp many, many years ago, I made a friend a summer camp called Stella, the same name as this book's protagonist.
○ I really thought Mrs Markham, upon being exposed as keeping a fox in her room, would promise not to tell on Stella for having a midnight feast, if she didn't tell anyone she had a pet fox. No. Stella just kept the secret.
○ I've been wondering for years why people say making food is a 'women's job', if most famous chefs are male, such as Gordon Ramsey, Jamie Oliver and Gino D'Campo. Finally someone addressed this, in this book. 'A boy cooking! What a cissy!' / 'A chef is a bloke, and that's not a joke!'.
○ I've heard people shorten 'dormitory' to 'dorm', but never 'dormi', until this book!
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ D E T A I L S
○ WRITTEN ON: D220623
TRANSCRIBED ON: A100723
○ HOURS TAKEN TO READ: Less than four hours
RATING: ☆ ☆ ½ (rounded up to three because Goodreads does not have a half star option)
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ R E V I E W
< P O S I T I V E S >
○ I was really surprised by the plot twist in this book! The wailing Stella had been hearing was a fox, that Mrs Markham was hiding in her room. It was this fox that had ripped Stella's book, when Mrs Markham was cleaning Stella's room. This explains why Mrs Markham got Stella's book fixed, and didn't ask Stella how it got ripped.
○ Because Stella accused Karen of ripping her book, Karen didn't want to join Stella's magazine. Anyone who contributed to the magazine was not allowed to enter the quiz. This meant Karen was able to enter. Despite not answering the questions in the quiz very well, Stella let Karen win. More than that, Stella gave her new 'designer' t-shirt to Karen as a prize. This was especially nice as Stella had observed Karen did not have 'designer' clothes, like her friend Louise. I love this!
○ Although it was a little cheeky and sarcastic, overall I did enjoy the instructions for making biscuits! Reading instructions sounds boring, but James simplified it for 'complete idiots'. He made it casual/informal, instead of professional, which turned out to be pretty honest and funny!
○ I really did think Rosemary was going to have to abandon her toy donkey in the cowpat. Therefore, I was really impressed Stella risked staying behind the rest of the group to clean it in the stream for her!
< N E G A T I V E S >
○ After Stella's mother contacting this summer camp before Stella attended, as well as speaking to a staff member upon arriving, I thought there was no way Stella would have to swim... Stella had to wear a spare swimming costume, despite her mother having comforted her by saying she couldn't swim if she didn't bring her swimming costume! Stella had two swim sessions a day, more than anyone else, she said. Throughout the book she was 'nearly crying', 'scared' and 'choking'. As she rightfully said on page 152, 'I was all tense and terrified because I couldn't swim'. I don't blame her, this is traumatic! I haven't even mentioned the fact her team, who would loose a lot of points because of Stella, lost at least one team point because she didn't want to swim. This was announced not just in front of her team, but the whole dining hall of all the children at the camp!
○ There were also hypothetical references to being hit, lashed, licked and many exaggerated references to dying and killing. Oh, and when a distant wailing sound ceased, Stella wondered if 'it' had been 'smothered, gagged or drugged'!
○ Stella might've said her instructors/leaders were harsh, but she was pretty annoying too! One of them referred to young girls as 'pretty' and 'ladies' which was a bit weird, but two characters, one of which was Stella, peered in on him getting changed was far weirder!
○ Stella decided to kiss her Brigadier after he, annoyed she did not participate in the swimming gala, took her aside after the other children left, to show him her swimming. What?!
○ A character was asked where she was from, for the second time, because 'You're black', and apparently, therefore, cannot be from Croydon (England, the UK), as she just said. This wasn't the only nationality-related issue in this book! Stella drew a 'Red Indian' with 'scarlet' hair, teeth and hair, saying he was the 'reddest Indian ever', to the point she decided to draw a fire beside him! I know this book was written in, and therefore likely set in the 1980s, when people generally did not respect native groups of people as much as nowadays, but this is still disrespectful, in my opinion, regardless. One thing, I might've let off, but there's two!
○ Stella liked when a young girl looked at Stella 'like that', which Stella elaborated, was a situation where Stella was like 'a queen' and the young girl was her 'maid'. What?!
○ Stella was worried about boys untying her swimming costume(!), despite the most concerning thing a boy ever did was speak in cringey, unnatural spoken rhymes!
○ Stella referred to herself as being like 'a boy in drag', because she was a girl with short hair, wearing a dress. Stella's age is never specified, but I'm guessing she's about ten, and I really HOPE most ten year olds don't know what 'drag' is.
○ Why was 'pants' used in American English by a British author in a story set in the UK? Why was Stella's parents referred to as 'going to Europe', when England, the UK, where this is set, is IN Europe? Why was Louise specified as having a crush on Alan, just for this to never be mentioned again?
○ Why was forcing Stella to swim, children drinking tea (very hot!), and what is misinterpreted as blood on Stella's pajamas all not a big deal, but Karen falling off her chair was a major concern?
< N E U T R A L >
○ Stella called her uncle and a leader at the camp 'uncle' despite being related to neither. I know some cultures/languages/contexts use a word such as 'uncle', as a word of respect (similar to 'father' for a priest), but if this was the case, it was not explained.
○ The cringey spoken rhymes remind me of the movie 'Mr Popper's Penguins', which had a character that spoke in alliteration. Strangely, I watched that movie the day before reading this book. More than that, that movie has a character called 'Janie', a name I claimed to have never heard before when watching that movie, and this book also has a character called Janie! Another coincidence is that when I attended a summer camp many, many years ago, I made a friend a summer camp called Stella, the same name as this book's protagonist.
○ I really thought Mrs Markham, upon being exposed as keeping a fox in her room, would promise not to tell on Stella for having a midnight feast, if she didn't tell anyone she had a pet fox. No. Stella just kept the secret.
○ I've been wondering for years why people say making food is a 'women's job', if most famous chefs are male, such as Gordon Ramsey, Jamie Oliver and Gino D'Campo. Finally someone addressed this, in this book. 'A boy cooking! What a cissy!' / 'A chef is a bloke, and that's not a joke!'.
○ I've heard people shorten 'dormitory' to 'dorm', but never 'dormi', until this book!
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ D E T A I L S
○ WRITTEN ON: D220623
TRANSCRIBED ON: A100723
○ HOURS TAKEN TO READ: Less than four hours
RATING: ☆ ☆ ½ (rounded up to three because Goodreads does not have a half star option)
raxor's review against another edition
1.0
It was a nice, funny and relatable book but the main character wasn't the best... She really, really annoyed me because she was thinking that the world only revolves around her.
thedayoflight's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
2.0
maha_eshraa's review against another edition
5.0
I liked this story when I was a child and it still makes me laugh now. it sure does tell you how to survive an unwanted summer camp and have the time of your life. I guess if you have an imagination as the Stella how could not have fun !
missbb2015's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
gabyyyke's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
evie_readz's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0