Candlewick Press, 2014

Gloria and her best friend Carol have a plan: to graduate from high school in Louisville, go to New York, and to skimp by however they can in order to make it in the theater and the ballet respectively. Gloria’s totally in, but first she wants to spend one summer on a college campus, just for the experience. So the summer before senior year Carol heads for ballet camp in New York while Gloria chooses Geek camp at the University of Kentucky.

Gloria’s thrilled to be entering the unknown. She chose the one course that came with no description. It’s also got a requirement that she give up technology and electronic communication for all four weeks of the program. Gloria’s excited rather than deterred by this dictum. She packs her pen and a notebook and leaves her technology and her city life behind.

This is a charming novel about possibilities. Gloria is the epitome of seventeen. She’s driven by her past, figuring out who she is, judging and embracing her camp mates, and opening herself up to new ideas and experiences. The characters in the story are appealing and flawed and coming of age in a wonderful way.

I think that as a younger teenager I would have loved to read this book and imagine myself in Gloria’s shoes. It’s full of the questions teenage girls and boys have about love, the future, and their past. This would make a great addition to young adult collections and a fun read for vacation or a lazy weekend.

I read Breakfast Served Anytime courtesy of Candlewick and NetGalley.