Nerd Camp by Elissa Weissman

This book was recommended by our school librarian, and I gave it a rating of five out of five. Gabe is accepted to attend a six-week summer camp for gifted enrichment, a nerd camp, but he wants to keep it secret from his soon-to-be stepbrother, Zach. He's afraid Zach won't like him if he finds out. Gabe keeps a record of things he does at camp to figure out if he's a nerd who only has nerdy adventures. However, Gabe has a great time at the camp and writes letters to his friends and Zach about the things he is doing. A girl named Amanda tells him that they're destined to be together, because they often end up doing the same activities, no matter how hard Gabe tries to avoid her. The one thing all of the campers are looking forward to is Color Wars. The week-long competition is full of challenges to decide the winning cabin for the year. Gabe must kayak to Dead Man's Island, in the middle of the night, to help his team win, but he finds a surprise along the way.

Gabe is a great character as he battles with his internal conflicts. He tries to impress Zach by showing him that he's not a nerd, but he wonders if it's worth it since Zach writes worse than a little kid and hates reading. I like how his character changed as he got to know Amanda better. She even shows him that he's looking at his life backwards; he does adventurous things that happen to be a little nerdy.