Camp Girls, Iris Krasnow
Camp Girls, Iris Krasnow
List: $18.99 | Sale: $13.29
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Camp Girls
Fireside Lessons on Friendship, Courage, and Loyalty

Author: Iris Krasnow

Narrator: Carol Jacobanis

Unabridged: 4 hr 54 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/07/2020


Synopsis

New York Times bestselling author Iris Krasnow reflects with humor and heart on her summer camp experiences and the lessons she and her fellow campers learned there that have stayed with them throughout their lives.

Iris Krasnow was 8 years old when she first attended sleep-away camp, building lasting friendships and essential life skills amid the towering pine trees and open skies of Wisconsin. Decades later, she returned to Camp Agawak as a staff member to help resurrect Agalog, the camp's defunct magazine that she wrote for as a child. There, she revisits the activities she loved as a young girl: singing songs around a campfire, swimming in a pristine lake, sleeping under the stars—experiences that continue to fill her with wisdom and perspective.

A nostalgic, inspiring memoir with a universal message on the importance of long-term friendship for campers and non-campers alike, Camp Girls weaves between past and present, filling the page in delicious detail with cabin pranks, canoe trips in rainstorms, and the joy of finding both your independence and your interdependence in nature alongside your peers. Through rich storytelling, Iris shares her own and other campers' adventures and the lessons from childhood that can shape fulfilling and successful adulthoods. Ultimately, Iris powerfully demonstrates that camp is more than a place or a collection of activities: it's where we learn what it means to be human and what it feels like to truly belong to a family—not of blood, but of history, loyalty, and tradition.

About Iris Krasnow

Iris Krasnow is a New York Times bestselling author, professor, and camp counselor. During the school year, she teaches journalism and gender studies at American University and spends summers at Camp Agawak. She's written Surrendering to Motherhood; Surrendering to Marriage; I Am My Mother's Daughter; The Secret Lives of Wives; and Sex After . . . Women Share How Intimacy Changes as Life Changes. She is a regular contributor to AARP's "The Girlfriend" and the relationship sections of Huffington Post, in addition to writing for AARP Magazine and the AARP Bulletin, and giving a popular TedX Talk.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Renata on September 16, 2020

I attended summer camp for like 8 years as a kid and 4 summers as a counselor, and I really did love camp and think it was a really defining life experience for me in a lot of ways. And I'm very nostalgic about camp and very susceptible to camp stories, and so when I saw this I picked it up. I'm not......more

Goodreads review by Ashley on January 17, 2022

I laughed and cried and enjoyed every minute of this beautifully written book. As an Agawak girl, I loved reading about my happy place, but I believe every “camp girl” will identify with the themes. Hip Zoo Rah Zoo Iris Krasnow!! Go Blue!......more

Goodreads review by Shawna on June 20, 2020

It's a very sweet passion project/compilation of true life lessons rooted in research, great stories and excellent takeaways for practical living. I had the privilege of being on a zoom book club call with the author and hundreds and hundreds of girls/women. As we age, it is easy to forget the hopef......more

Goodreads review by Sara on May 26, 2021

I was really looking forward to this book and maybe it’s just not what I expected. It’s so repetitive! The author keeps telling us how great camp is and how special the bonds are but there aren’t really any actual detailed stories of camp life shared. :( I’m going to drop it in a Free Little Library......more

Goodreads review by Beth on May 11, 2021

I just couldn't shake the feeling that this was a camp brochure/speech/presentation to parents convincing them to send their kids to camp. To me it read like a research paper, certainly not a story. I can see why the author loved her experience and still does.......more


Quotes

"A heartwarmer. A nostalgic treat about a simpler time, it also offers a valuable message for today."—People

"Camp Girls is one of the most compelling and thought-provoking camp memoirs I have ever read. Iris Krasnow encapsulates the transformative essence of immersive summer camp experiences and also serves as a timely call-to-action for all parents. Findings from decades of camp research suggest that summer camp is an optimal context for social-emotional learning experiences which help young people thrive in school, in 21st century workplaces and in life. Iris's masterful storytelling had me laughing and crying while powerfully illuminating the lasting impacts of positive mindsets and skills nurtured in undistracted, human-centered, and adventurous camp communities."—Tom Rosenberg, President/CEO of American CampAssociation

"Iris Krasnow brings us back to the place where memories were made, campfires were lit, songs were sung and friendships were formed. We didn't know it then, but those formative summers spent in cabins, lakes, and canoes made us into the athletes, artists, leaders, and loyal friends we are today. Reading Camp Girls is like finding that old camp photo album in your parent's basement and flipping through its pages with laughter and tears."—Betsy Fischer Martin, executive director of Women & Politics Institute at American University, former executive producer of Meet the Press, NBC News, camper at Camp Feliciana, Norwood Louisiana (1979-1983)

"A thoroughly enjoyable dip into nostalgia for the simpler times of youth."—Publishers Weekly

"In this love letter to summer camp, bestselling memoirist Krasnow (The Secret Lives of Wives, 2011) reflects on her experiences over the years...Former campers, particularly women, will revel in the nostalgia emanating from these pages."—Booklist