Good Reads / Community Library Notes
The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore
Kim Fu
Review by Priscilla Comen
The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore
Kim Fu
Review by Priscilla Comen
The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore, by Kim Fu, is the coming of age story of five girls: Nita, Andee, Isobel, Dina, Siobhan. It begins with their days at the camp where they learn to kayak and to survive outdoors over-night. It follows them, individually, through adolescence and into adulthood.
Author Fu describes what happened to Andee and her older sister, Kayla, when they were forced to run from city to city each time their mother was evicted from her former friends’ homes. They had no roots, no base. Kayla was often sexually abused. As they grow older, the two girls become more independent. Andee goes to work in a bookstore. Kayla joins a community church where sings in its music group and plays her guitar. She meets an older man, Walter, and marries him. Andee goes to Alaska for a while then to a ranch in Wyoming.
Readers are taken back to camp Forevermore when the girls have kayaked to an island for their overnight camping experience. The adult guiding them, Jan, shows how to make a fire without matches and gives advice on avoiding predators. When Jan doesn’t wake them in the morning, they find she has died in the night. The kayaks have drifted out to sea. Led by Siobhan’s logic, they decide to walk to a town they hope is nearby for help. Isabel stays behind with Jan’s body.
Being alone and lost on the island influences their lives forevermore. Isobel has two lovers then meets Victor, Dina’s brother. He’s a surfer and wants to live in California. They marry, and Isobel's parents die in an accident. She feels young and rich when they buy a house in California. Dina wants to be a star, an actress or a singer, and takes singing lessons followed by auditions.
What will happen to these young girls as they grow older and mature? Author Fu moves them along with depth and keen observations as life goes on. Find out the answeres in this compelling book on the new fiction shelf of your Mendocino Community Library.
Author Fu describes what happened to Andee and her older sister, Kayla, when they were forced to run from city to city each time their mother was evicted from her former friends’ homes. They had no roots, no base. Kayla was often sexually abused. As they grow older, the two girls become more independent. Andee goes to work in a bookstore. Kayla joins a community church where sings in its music group and plays her guitar. She meets an older man, Walter, and marries him. Andee goes to Alaska for a while then to a ranch in Wyoming.
Readers are taken back to camp Forevermore when the girls have kayaked to an island for their overnight camping experience. The adult guiding them, Jan, shows how to make a fire without matches and gives advice on avoiding predators. When Jan doesn’t wake them in the morning, they find she has died in the night. The kayaks have drifted out to sea. Led by Siobhan’s logic, they decide to walk to a town they hope is nearby for help. Isabel stays behind with Jan’s body.
Being alone and lost on the island influences their lives forevermore. Isobel has two lovers then meets Victor, Dina’s brother. He’s a surfer and wants to live in California. They marry, and Isobel's parents die in an accident. She feels young and rich when they buy a house in California. Dina wants to be a star, an actress or a singer, and takes singing lessons followed by auditions.
What will happen to these young girls as they grow older and mature? Author Fu moves them along with depth and keen observations as life goes on. Find out the answeres in this compelling book on the new fiction shelf of your Mendocino Community Library.