I Have a Bad Feeling About This

In this gleefully over-the-top, wickedly funny adventure, Strand (A Bad Day for Voodoo) pits several teens against the hazards of an extreme survival camp and a band of thugs. Sixteen-year-old Henry Lambert is sent to Strongwoods Survival Camp after his father decides he needs to be more of a man. What Henry discovers is a place with horrible food, an unspeakable outhouse, and a gun-toting nutjob of an instructor. When the end-of-camp paintball exercise is interrupted by violent criminals looking to collect on a debt, Henry and his fellow campers—as well as Monica, a resourceful girl from the music camp down the road—are thrust into a life-and-death struggle. The battle seesaws from frantic to slapstick (guns, arrows, fake grenades, and frying pans are all used), and Henry tries to find his inner action hero—as witnessed by the framing sequence involving the horribly exaggerated movie made after the fact. Strand balances action with laugh-out-loud humor, making this a thoroughly entertaining not-quite-coming-of-age tale. Ages 12–up. Agent: Stephanie Kip Rostan, Levine Greenberg Literary Agency. (Mar.)