Camp Sylvania

Available now!

Age range: 8-12 years
Grades: 3-7
Audio narrated by: Katie Ladner
ISBN 10: 006311402X
ISBN-13: 978-0063114029

A fun and spooky celebration of fat kids and friendship.

— Kirkus Reviews

From Julie Murphy, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dumplin’, comes a hilarious and creepy middle grade summer camp story that takes a bite out of fat camp and diet culture. Perfect for fans of Spooky Stories and Starfish.

Magnolia “Maggie” Hagen is determined to be in the spotlight . . . if she can just get over her stage fright. This summer, though, she has big plans to finally attend Camp Rising Star, the famous performing arts camp she’s been dying to go to for three whole summers.

But on the last day of school, her parents break the news: Maggie isn’t going to Camp Rising Star. She’s being shipped off to fat camp—and not just any fat camp. She’s going to Camp Sylvania, run by world-famous wellness influencer Sylvia Sylvania, who is known for her soon-to-be-patented Scarlet Diet.

When Maggie arrives at camp, things are . . . weird. There are the humiliating weigh-ins and grueling workouts, as expected. But the campers are also encouraged to donate blood—at their age! The cafeteria serves only red foods and the oddly specific rules change every day. There are even rumors of a camp ghost.

Despite these horrors, Maggie makes friends and starts to actually enjoy herself. There are even tryouts for a camp production of The Music Man! This place might not be so bad . . . until campers start going missing and other suspicious things begin happening—especially after dark. The camp ghost might be the least scary thing about this place. . . .

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Praise for Camp Sylvania

Kirkus Reviews

“Murphy renders her camp of fat characters with nuance, giving them unique personalities beyond their size and often pointing out how others’ judgments ignore their full humanity and undermine their confidence….A fun and spooky celebration of fat kids and friendship.”
(Full review here)

ALA Booklist

“Readers of gentle horror will enjoy the eerier elements, and fans of contemporary middle-grade fiction will be delighted by Maggie’s realization that she’s perfect just the way she is.”
(Full review here)

Publisher’s Weekly

“Through Maggie’s witty first-person narration, Murphy reveals the fat camp’s horrors, both benign and supernatural, as Maggie, who experiences performance anxiety, realizes that she and her body are just right the way they are. It’s a character-driven summer camp romp that takes on anti-fat bias while underscoring how parents don’t always get things right.”

Horn Book Magazine

"The characters’ [are] engaging and memorable…. The central focus is on Maggie’s journey to overcome her personal fears, but the diet culture–obsessed vampires also allow for some moments of biting satire.”