Primal Animals

Gr 9 Up–Sixteen-year-old Arlee Gold arrives for her first summer at Camp Rockaway, a college preparatory program deep in the wilderness that sets elite young people on the path to the Ivy Leagues. Though she struggles with anxiety, intense panic, and a deep phobia of bugs, she is brave and determined to find her place and succeed there as a legacy camper in the shadow of her successful mother, a feared camp legend. Despite the stigma set upon her by her mother’s mysterious reputation, Arlee finds family with her bunkmates. Their cabin is a sanctuary for an inclusive, supportive, and loving cast of characters including Ginger, a trans musician; Winnie, Arlee’s sapphic love interest; and Jane, who is Black. Other campers’ identities are not discussed. At long last, Arlee’s found a place she can belong. However, her harmonious camp experience begins the slow descent into horror when she’s invited to join the camp’s secret sorority, whose aim to “protect the girls” may not be as heroic as it seems. This dark and disturbing psychological horror will keep readers turning pages to learn every answer they can about what’s really going on at that camp, but it’s definitely not for the squeamish.