Title: Pippa’s Island: Camp Castaway
Author: Belinda Murrell
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Published: 2nd April 2018
Format: Paperback
Pages: 240
Price: $14.99
Synopsis: Pippa and friends are off to a tiny tropical island for school camp – but what happens when their group are split up?
The students in class 5M are heading off to school camp. Pippa has never been away on camp before, at least not to a deserted tropical island! The Sassy Sisters look forward to five blissful days together exploring Shipwreck Island’s beaches and lagoon. But when the teams get regrouped, Pippa has to learn to cooperate with Olivia and the other girls.
Mrs Marshall promised challenges and adventure, but she forgot to mention the pranks. After one too many of the boys’ tricks, the girls decide to take their revenge.
Will class 5M survive Camp Castaway?
~*~
Pippa is off on her first real camping trip – five days away on a deserted island with her class, and the Sassy Sisters. All seems to be going well until Mrs Marshall and Zoe change the teams around – splitting up the Sassy Sisters and putting Pippa and Meg with Olivia and her friends. They must learn to work together for the next few days – with Meg and Pippa making an effort to include everyone, but Olivia taking charge and thinking everyone should do what she says. All the while, the boys are playing pranks on the girls – and when they get pushed too far, they decide to take revenge, leading to a bonding experience between Pippa and Olivja.
The fourth Pippa’s Island book is my one hundredth book by an Australian Women Writer for 2019. This is a delightful series, and I have one book left to read in it before I have read all that is available. These books capture what it is like to be twelve, and to be the new kid, and what it is like trying to fit in and make new friends, but also, trying to understand different people when forced to work together, which is the focus of this book.
I started reading this series a couple of months ago, and now that I am one away from finishing what is out, I am hoping there will be more to come, as they really are lovely stories with universal themes of friendship and feeling like an outsider – things that we have all felt at some point, whatever our age, race, gender, sexuality, and many other aspects, such as having a disability. These stories are universal and diverse in many ways and allow kids to see a bit of themselves in each of the characters.
I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the new year – I really want to see Pippa’s house finished and what happens next for her family – I feel like there are many things that could happen with this series, and it will be one of those key series for girls of a certain age and their friends. Another great Belinda Murrell book, and I am looking forward to reading more from her in the future.
I bought my niece the first one in the series after our chat about books to buy her. Apparently she’s enjoying it, so I’ll hopefully be buying her the next one for her birthday. She’ll have thus one for Christmas next year lol. Thank you for your review.
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Excellent and glad it has helped. I need to read book five now.
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I told her if she reads it and writes me a good review I’ll feature her on my blog as guest kid reviewer. . We are Tring to get her to read more, so hopefully this helps. She seemed excited.
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That’s so awesome. There are some pretty cool kids books out there these days.
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There definitely are.
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