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Overview
Madison is having a tough time at Band Camp. Following her parents divorce and the move with her mother to the west coast, she is finding it hard to make new friends. Trying desperately to become one of the group, and failing that, to go home from camp as soon as possible, Madison is spending a lot of time on the outside looking in, and everything she does seems to put even the most simple attempts at friendship on shaky ground. Over an eventful two week period, Madison finds that Band Camp will test all of her strength and force her to call on a resourcefulness she didn't realize she possessed.Between practicing her flute and juggling the attentions of Luke and Ricky, Madison confronts a wild cougar and her own fear of failure while trying to fit in and still do the right thing.
After struggling for nearly a year just to be noticed at her new school, thirteen-year-old Madison earns both friends and honors during a two-week Band Camp on the coast of Canada.
Editorials
Children's Literature -
Madison is having a difficult time adjusting to Band Camp. After her parents divorce and her move away from the girls with whom she grew up, Madison feels lonely and sad. All this changes when faced with a dangerous situation, Madison finds the courage to take control and helps her new friends. Preteens will enjoy and relate to this engrossing tale of displacement, growing up and forging one's independence.VOYA -
Thirteen-year-old Madison would love to win Band Camp's "Beans on Toast Award," a mock-heroic trophy presented each evening to the camper who has done the most outrageous thing that day. As a friendless outsider with a chip on her shoulder, Madison is an unlikely candidate for any award. The girls in her cabin alternately tease and ignore her. To be sure, good-natured Ricky wants to be her friend-but, after all, he is not tall, blonde, and really cute like her dream guy Luke. Madison tries to disguise her loneliness with a don't-care attitude, but secretly hides in the woods to cry and compose little tunes on her flute. In spite of her character flaws, Madison is still the heroine of the story. She triumphs in the end when, in a sensationalized climax, she saves her enemy, Jennifer-meanest of all the campers-from a cougar attack. Luckily, Madison took a first aid class two years earlier and knows how to make tourniquets from torn-up T-shirts. Hrdlitschka's Beans on Toast is an improbable and rather silly story. The characters are basically one-dimensional stereotypes: the Spiteful Girl, the Jock with Hidden Depths, the Nerd, the Loyal but Misunderstood Friend. The writing is competent but pedestrian. In spite of the fairly static cover art, this Canadian import may still attract younger teens looking for a quick and undemanding read. VOYA Codes: 3Q 3P M J (Readable without serious defects, Will appeal with pushing, Middle School-defined as grades 6 to 8 and Junior High-defined as grades 7 to 9).School Library Journal
Gr 6-8--This novel chronicles the summer Band Camp adventures of Madison, a 13-year-old girl whose parents have just divorced. She is reluctant to attend the camp because she is the "new girl," and much of the plot centers on her tentative attempts to find her place in this group. She is invited to replace a popular older girl as first chair in the flute section but is reluctant to accept the honor, fearing that she will alienate others. This novel is well written, and the author deals sensitively with both "ugly duckling" feelings of not fitting in, and with Madison's reactions to her parents' divorce. The requisite cute guy vs. nerdy guy dilemma is included, but it plays a fairly small part in the realistic interaction between male and female campers. Enhanced by its unique setting, Beans on Toast should be well received by young teens.--Linda W. Tilden, Cherry Hill Library, NJBook Details
Published
August 1, 1998
Publisher
Victoria, BC, Canada ; Orca Book Publishers, c1998.
Pages
128
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9781551431161