Summer Camp in the City

The Three Rivers Arts Festival is finally here, marking the unofficial start of summer in Pittsburgh. Farmer’s Markets, city pools, new spray parks, festivals and a ton of music make this city a great place to be for kids and adults, even during the doggiest days of summer.  

As an adult, this kind of summertime activity sounds much more thrilling than the idea of  spending a summer away from Pittsburgh stranded at summer camp.  Thanks to the 90s children show, Salute Your Shorts,  I can vividly remember how badly my little kid brain  wanted to go to summer camp. 

Sadly, I never went.  But fortunately, a  lot of people did,  so there are dozens of books about horribly embarrassing summer camp experiences.  Browse this list to discover books about summer camps that will surely make you cringe, cry and crack-up.   

 Camp Camp: Where Fantasy Island Meets Lord of the Flies, Roger Bennett and Jules Shell 

 

  

Do-Over!: In Which a Forty-Eight-Year-Old Father of Three Returns to Kindergarten, Summer Camp, the Prom, and Other Embarrassments,  Robin Hemley

 

 

 Sleepaway: Writings on Summer Camp, edited by Eric Simonoff

 

 

 Cabin Pressure: One Man’s Desperate Attempt to Recapture his Youth as a Camp Counselor, Josh Wolk

 

 

 And let us not forget some all-time favorite films set at summer camp….

Meatballs

 

 

The Parent Trap

 

 

Wet Hot American Summer

 

 

 – Lisa