Camp

At Camp Outland, a Connecticut sleepaway camp where everyone’s queer, 16-year-old Randy feels fully himself, enjoying “who-cares-if-your-wrists-are-loose-freedom.” He’s been a camper there since he was 12, and he and his friends in the drama cabin live and breathe theater. But this summer is different. Randy has butched up, gone out for sports, and started going by “Del” to land camp lothario Hudson, and not just for a fling, either: Randy’s been crushing for four years now, and he’s out for love. But can love be built on a lie? Rosen (Jack of Hearts [and Other Parts]) portrays Camp Outland as an LGBTQ idyll replete with queer history talks and gender-blind theater casting. He also takes on the “straight-acting” gay men who look down on Randy and his friends— friends who, in turn, disapprove of masc4masc Hudson—and shows that the butch-fem divide may be narrower than it seems (Randy’s friends disapprove of masc4masc Hudson, and Randy has his own doubts) in a fun, inclusive story that’s sex-, romance-, and LGBTQ-positive. Ages 14–up. [em]Agent: Joy Tutela, David Black Literary. (May) [/em]