Jay was looking forward to his last summer before secondary school with his friends. However, they both end up having other plans and Jay is dreading the long weeks ahead. That is until he learns how fun summer camp can be! I didn’t know that this is technically a sequel to Camden’s book My Big Mouth but it didn’t read like a sequel at all, so I’d say it’s fine to read this one first. It’s a quirky story about creativity and how it can really help to process big emotions and life changes. There is quite a bit of farfetched-ness to it including the existence of a monkey called Nesta. However, it’s that silliness that adds to its charm. It also had an air of nostalgia for me because it is set around the time that I was Jay’s age (early 2000s). The Saturday morning cartoons and the lack of gadgets took me right back to my childhood and I loved it.

A funny, big-hearted coming of age novel and a lovely sequel to My Big Mouth by CLiPPA award-winning poet and writer Steven Camden. With fun pictures from Chanté Timothy.

A great story of change, and how to deal with it. Love the stories at arts summer school. It is very relatable to those changing or recently changed schools. Summer holidays are not as boring as they look!

My 9 year old co-reviewer liked the way Jay made friends throughout the course of this book by joining an art camp. Nesta the monkey was a great character who really appeals to this age group!