A heartwarming novel about a loving dad who drags his eleven-year-old daughter to “father-daughter week” at a remote summer camp—their last chance to bond before he loses her to teenage girlhood entirely.
After his daughter, Avery, was born, John gave it all up—hobbies, friends, a dream job—to be something more: a super dad. Since then, he’s spent nearly every waking second with Avery, who’s his absolute best bud. Or, at least, she was.
When now eleven-year-old Avery begins transforming into an eye-rolling zombie of a preteen who dreads spending time with him, a desperate John whisks her away for a weeklong father-daughter retreat to get their relationship back on track before she starts middle school.
But John’s attempts to bond only seem to drive his daughter further away, and his instincts tell him Avery’s hiding something more than just preteen angst. Even worse, the camp is far from the idyllic getaway he had in mind. John finds himself navigating a group of toxic dads that can’t seem to get along, cringe-worthy forced bonding activities, and a camp director that has it out for him. With camp and summer break slipping away fast, John’s determined to conquer it all for a chance to become Avery’s hero again.
This brilliant and deeply funny father-daughter story is perfect for fans of poignant and hilarious books like The Guncle by Steven Rowley, Steve Martin’s family classic Cheaper by the Dozen, and Judd Apatow’s bighearted comedies.
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Dad Camp is such a wonderful and hilarious reminder that there is no such thing as a perfect parent, nor should there be! It is a story that dads AND moms will relate to about parenting and how hard it is and how awesome it is and how hard it is. Did I say that already? Evan Porter captured the sacrifice, the gifts, and everything in between in this engaging, laugh-out-loud story that is just as much about being a parent as it is about being a grown-up. Because sometimes that is hard, too.
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Hillary Yablon, author of Sylvia’s Second Act