Cute story about believing in yourself and not changing for others. Also to add that I got this book for free from Goodreads first reads. ( )

Firstly, I would have loved to have attended a camp like SCGE when I was in middle school - what a fun time! Alas, church camp was my only sleep-away experience (still kind of fun) so I had to carry out my gifted enrichment at school in seminar or on my own time during the summer. Gabe and his friends make it seem like such a blast!

So Gabe thinks he's normal-level cool until he meets Zack who is uber-cool. Zack doesn't enjoy reading, isn't so hot with the grammar and not big into math or science in point of fact. But he is jealous that Gabe is the one who gets to spend the summer at sleep-away camp. Hoping to impress his future brother with the coolness of his camp, Gabe makes a logic proof to organize what he thinks he can and cannot tell Zack about his summer.

Gabe is pretty easy to relate to, even for an adult. He likes who he is, but isn't so sure what others will think of him. To offset this dichotomy, he presents a sort of facade that is part him and part who he thinks he's supposed to be. After all, everyone in the world does that to some degree. By the end, Gabe's secret is uncovered when his mom brings Zack with her to pick him up from SCGE and Gabe's cover is blown as Zack witnesses Gabe's geekiness firsthand.

Weissman knows her subject matter well and she was a delight to listen to and speak with. Her stories are well written and her characters are very well developed. She has also managed to successfully write a children's book that appeals to adults as well!
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As a former attendee of Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth, I could not help but have affection for these nerd campers. Gabe, Wesley, and Nikhil reminded me of the boys who play Magic in my library every day during recess, so of course I adored them. This is a book about what "cool" means, and finding the cool in who you are even if you don't meet society's Coolness Standards -- a pretty common middle grade theme. What takes it a cut above are the wacky camp hijinks, the book's refusal to mock the "cool kids" even as Gabe decides not to be one, and a hilarious hairstyling scene with a fresh take on middle school gender performativity. I found it slow to get started, and Gabe's relationship with his stepbrother Zack a little canned, but once the boys settled into their camp routine I couldn't put it down. I look forward to sharing it with my 6th graders! ( )

Oh, how do I describe my love for this book? I'll do my absolute best to touch on all the parts that really made me fall in love, but I can promise you now you'll need to go and pick up a copy of Nerd Camp. The dialogue and adventures are laugh out loud funny, and it's just such a fun read! Where else are you going to find a karaoke battle featuring the countries of the world in alphabetical order? Did I peak your interest? Good, read on!

As young characters go, Gabe and his posse of camp buddies are hilariously believable. Weissman gives the readers a camp full of unique and fun personalities. Gabe Gabe loves to make lists. They are a way for him to figure out problems that are bugging him. In fact, he ends up making a list during the book to help with his Zack problem. He lists out "Reasons I Am a Nerd" and "Reasons I Am Not a Nerd" at the beginning of every chapter. What's hilarious, and evident to an older reader, is that every single thing he does during his time at camp falls under both categories! Is there a lesson to be learned here? I think so! Wesley can solve all sorts of problems in his sleep, if you're awake long enough to hear him talk about them. Nikhil was my favorite because he was the character of the bunch who was afraid of everything. Germs, consequences, he reminded me so much of me when I was little!

Lest you think that the reader will be bogged down with lesson though, let me tell you that they are blended seamlessly into this overall story. The humor takes the edge off of Gabe's learning, but he really does figure out a lot. As Gabe goes through his summer time fun, he learns a lot about himself and those around him. He learns to fit in, he learns that he can be pretty "cool" in his own way, and most of all he learns that sometimes those kids out there who think they are cool are really just insecure. Yup. Deep right? Look at all the lessons you can get from one fun and extremely well written book! Did I mention every kid should read this?

Where was this book when I was an elementary aged kid? Really, Nerd Camp is a book that every young kid should give a read. If they happen to be in Gabe's situation, on the line between "cool" and being themselves, they will connect with the book. Yet if they are in Zack's situation, which I can't describe too much without giving away the story, they'll understand that there are varying shades of "cool" out there. Perfect book for any kid! The message is clear, be yourself. If you are a lover of MG writing, or even if you're just looking for something that will make you giggle, give this one a try! The antics of Gabe, Wesley, and Nikhil are something you won't regret taking part in. ( )

Ten-year-old Gabe has been looking forward to the Summer Camp for Gifted Enrichment which includes courses of poetry and logical reasoning, but now he’s worried. He doesn’t want his new stepbrother to think he’s a nerd. How can Gabe write letters to Zack (who has made snide remarks about nerds) without admitting to the academic side of the summer venture and risking ridicule? With tangential math connections, add this novel to a summer reading list for a math class. The students’ banter at camp is about things like Pi Day and math club. One boy asks: “Did you know you only need twenty-three people in a room to have a greater than fifty percent chance of finding two people with the same birthday?” (p. 41). That question alone provides a perfect invitation for a class full of children to explore by conducting surveys in classrooms across the school, creating graphs or charts to represent their data, and compiling an analyzing that data. ( )