''Camp'' is a

young adult fiction Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

novel written by L. C. Rosen and published in 2020 by

Little, Brown Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown (publisher), James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Ear ...

. The book tells the story of Randall Kapplehoff, a

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

teen who goes every year to a queer summer camp and is finally ready to start a relationship with his crush.

Plot

''Camp'' follows Randall Kapplehoff, a

teen who goes to Camp Outland, a queer summer camp, every year. Randall is interested in musical theatre but rebrands himself as Del and makes himself more masculine to impress his crush, Hudson, a "masculine 'straight-acting' muscled deity." Throughout the book, readers receive lessons about the

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

community and its history, including definitions of genders and sexualities readers may be unfamiliar with, what happened before Stonewall, the Mattachine Society, and more. Further, the book tackles both societal and internalized homophobia.

Background

Although Rosen did not attend a summer camp for queer kids, the physical layout of Camp Outland is based off a Jewish summer camp Rosen attended and worked at for several years. Rosen's camp didn't have a drama cabin, but Rosen spent years in theater. Rosen modeled the story off the 1960s romantic comedies featuring

Rock Hudson Rock Hudson (born Roy Harold Scherer Jr.; November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985) was an American actor. One of the most popular movie stars of his time, he had a screen career spanning more than three decades. A prominent heartthrob in the Golde ...

and Doris Day; he "wanted a vintage-feeling screwball sex comedy but for contemporary queer teens." The book's title has multiple meanings: "

summer camp A summer camp or sleepaway camp is a supervised program for children conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as ''campers''. Summer school is usually a part of the academ ...

, camp in the sense of drag queens and also camp in the sense that playing butch is a form of camp, too."

Reception

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' called the book a "fun, inclusive story that's sex-, romance-, and LGBTQ-positive", while '' Kirkus Reviews'' said " is novel has the appeal of a rom-com movie-makeover but with more substantive explorations". ''

Shelf Awareness Shelf Awareness is an American publishing company that produces two electronic publications/newsletters focused on bookselling, books and book reviews. Overview With offices in Seattle, Washington, and Montclair, New Jersey, ''Shelf Awareness' ...

'' highlighted how the book "unashamedly celebrates queerness" as "Rosen explores these identities without ever making them feel like stereotypes or ignoring prejudices in the community." Maggie Reagan, who reviewed for ''

The Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...

'', noted Rosen's attempt to tackle issues present in the

community, such as internal biases and prejudices, similarly to how he did in his 2018 book, ''Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts)''. Reagan ended the review by calling the book " essential pick for teens figuring out who and how to love." ''Camp'' was featured by ''The Booklist'' in its list of the ten best romances for young adults published between September, 2019 and August, 2020. ''Camp'' was named one of the best books of the year by

ALMA Magazine ''ALMA'' is a Spanish-language lifestyle magazine published in the United States for the Hispanic community. The magazine was founded in 2005. It focuses mainly on culture, fashion and politics. At the beginning It was published in Argentina ten ...

, ''

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

'', ''The Guardian'', the ''

Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It w ...

'', and ''

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with ...

.''

Film adaptation

In October 2021, it was announced that ''Camp'' would be adapted into a film for

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...

And

Warner Bros Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

. The film will be directed by Billy Porter and produced by

Dan Jinks Dan Jinks is an American film and television producer. In February 2010, Jinks launched his own film and television production company, the Dan Jinks Company.

with the screenplay written by

Kit Williamson Kit Williamson (born November 13, 1985) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for creating, writing, directing, and starring in the dark comedy web series ''EastSiders''. For his work on the series, he has been nominated for several Ind ...

and Robert O’Hara.{{Cite web , last=Kroll , first=Justin , date=2021-10-26 , title=Billy Porter To Direct 'Camp' For HBO Max And Warner Bros , url=https://deadline.com/2021/10/billy-porter-camp-hbo-max-1234862218/ , access-date=2022-08-20 , website=Deadline , language=en-US Porter will also play Mark, the camp's theater director.

References

2020 American novels 2020s LGBT novels Little, Brown and Company books