This book is a perfect middle grade mystery. When a group of older girls at sleepaway camp start looking very tired and the batteries in their flashlights die every night, Bee and her friends decide to investigate. What they find will thrill and surprise you! The mystery of the haunted dance hall was well-written and full of suspense. The story gives kids a window into another time (the early sixties) and is a retelling of an old fairy tale. The only problem I had with this book was that there was casual mention of 15-year-old kids drinking and slipping sleeping pills to adults.

I thought this worked well as a tense and suspenseful atmosphere that I was looking for in this type of book. The mystery of this worked well overall and was hooked from the genre, the characters had that feel that I was looking for and was glad they were so well done. It was everything that I was wanting from a children's fiction novel. Charis Cotter has a strong writing style and thought the overall feel worked in the story.

I really loved Charis Cotter’s The Dollhouse, and was thus looking forward to this one. It has some things to recommend it, but on the whole it’s just okay.

It’s on the slow side for a kids book and overlong in the sense that there’s a lot of repetitiveness to the content and dialogue (and especially to Bee’s inner monologue) that didn’t need to be there. I liked the setting and thought it was a well-rendered and immersive summer camp experience.

There’s a lot about this that feels dated, and I do mean that somewhat pejoratively, as in different from old fashioned. It’s a bit out of touch and will thus probably resonate better with older adults than the target demographic, which appears to be the younger end of the middle reader age group.

I found Bee likeable, though a lot of the anxiety stuff felt like a bit much. I’m not sure it’s realistically handled, though I hope it resonates with young readers in the interest of building empathy.

The mystery itself is disappointingly predictable, though it’s well-structured. This feels a bit like a cross between a kiddie mystery and a spin on the 12 Dancing Princesses, which is a great idea in theory, but in execution didn’t quite feel like a fit for the intended audience. All the birdwatching stuff feels more targeted towards someone the author’s age than towards middle readers, evident in my kids asking me while we read this if anyone actually goes to birdwatching camp.

If you like a YA/ Middle grade story about summer camp, new friends, and a mystery to solve, this one could be one to pick up. It's not perfect, but it was an enjoyable, light read. I think my biggest issue was pacing as the story does not progress very quickly with regards to the mystery we are supposed to focus on.

This is Bee's first year at summer camp and she already hates it. She is an inside girl who sees her rom as her sanctuary and also has a bit of anxiety with regards to strangers. However, her mom has a job in New York for a month and feels as though Bee needs to socialize with some girls her own age and try to make friends. On one of her first evenings, some girls steal her flashlight and she has to try and stumble back to her cabin in the dark. A girl named Zippy finds her and they become quick friends as they both seem a bit unique and quirky.

Each age of girls (i.e. 13, 14, 15 etc.) are housed in their own cabins and have their own names, so when Bee and Zippy uncover the mystery of the Hawk cabin girls always being exhausted and their flashlights running out of battery every night, they are eager to find out what is going on. I do wish we had gotten to the mystery a bit more quickly. I think it took about 50% of the book to actually get somewhere with the story. Much of the dialogue is juvenile but since it's a middle grade, I didn't bother myself about it too much. All in all a decent summer read with low stakes and music in the night.

Bee is a bit different from other kids and so far, has been able to avoid summer camp thanks to all of her quirks. But not this year. Her mother needs to head to New York for a few weeks for work, leaving Bee with a 'must go' ultimatum. At camp, things start out a little rough as she just doesn't seem to fit in, but she expected that. When she meets Zippy, things do a turn around, and she has a friend. Before she can sink into camp fun, Bee notices strange things occurring. There's music coming from somewhere in the middle of the night, and no one seems to notice the older girls sneaking out. Or are they? Because the few times anyone checks, the girls are in their beds. But something's up, and Bee is going to get to the bottom of it.

This heads back to earlier summer camp days, where cell phones didn't exist and kids found other ways to keep themselves busy. Bee enters the camp with a closed door to others and doesn't really feel comfortable in her own skin, There's a bit of bullying, but that is quickly dimmed as she finds Zippy and her first friend. The friendship between the two is inspiring, which is great since they are up against quite the mystery.

While the twists and turns are unexpected and things such as hidden passages and dark forests draw in, this is a calmer spooky read, which slowly draws in and let's things unfold as they come. It's not easy to guess what will happen next, and the odd occurrences will have readers questioning what is going on. The pacing is steady, but it isn't necessarily for action fans. Rather, it's for those readers who want to enjoy the characters and discover what secrets the camp holds.

I unfortunately DNF this book close to the 25% mark. I didn't find the voice compelling and it was too slow-paced for a book described as "spooky" and "atmospheric." I would not recommend it for kids who like to jump right into the action from the first few chapters, or those who enjoy poetic, descriptive prose. Perhaps it would be more suitable for those who favor writing that is very concise and bare-bones.

Thank you to NetGalley Random House for this ARC!

Bee’s sent to summer camp for the first time and the theme for the summer camp is birds. The scenery of nature and the different types of birds in this book made me want to attend this camp. It sounded peaceful and relaxing. Especially when it’s set in the 1960s with no phones no devices that’s what I love about the book. It’s necessary to just be one with nature and take a digital detox. Another thing I loved about this book is the author takes something ordinary and makes its into an extraordinary in a unique way that I never read about. The mystery is what had me reading the book in two days. Secret passages, memorizing dance music, exhausted campers from the older girls who’s batteries drained every night. It unfolds in a way where you just want to keep reading because you have many questions till the end. Bee finding a friend Zippy for the first time who made her feel like her uniqueness was amazing not weird was a friendship we all need. Someone who won’t judge us. It’s a great summer type mystery book.