Andy and the Extroverts
Jessica K. Foster
Winding Road Stories
Published May 16, 2023
Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads
About Andy and the Extroverts
Seventeen-year-old bookish Andy has no friends. When her over-involved mother has the audacity to ship her off to summer leadership camp, she’s thrust into an introvert’s nightmare. Everyone is a Communicator with a capital C, icebreaker activities are scheduled into every waking moment, and horror of all horrors: there’s no coffee. Even the girls who take her under their wing are the kind of self-assured people Andy could never dream of becoming.
Then she meets Lucas‐‐hot, attentive, and everything Andy reads about in her books. Though the girls in her cottage try to warn her about him, she’s swept into the first romance of her life. But when she discovers her friends may be right, she’ll have to find her inner confidence to save her summer and become the leader she was always meant to be.
My Review
I’ve been in the mood for a good summer camp book lately (probably since I posted this list of ten great summer camp books). This book had all the things I was looking for: summer camp nerves, goofy group activities, unexpected but wonderful new friendships, and a summer romance!
As an introvert, I really appreciated a lot of Andy’s experiences. I especially appreciated her need for alone time and how often she felt like that was brushed off or negatively viewed. The scenes where people treat her as if her problem is simply shyness and that the solution is to push her “out of her comfort zone” also really resonated with me.
I think my favorite moments were the ones in which people quietly noticed or praised her leadership style, recognizing that it was different than the louder, rah-rah style of some of the other campers and counselors but often equally effective. I loved that. It made me feel like the author had some expertise or knowledge about ways that introverts lead versus extroverts. It made me think of QUIET by Susan Cain, which I heartily recommend to any introvert or person connected to one.
Anyway, I stayed up way too late finishing this book because I really wanted to know what would happen. I was a little disappointed in the ending simply because I hoped for a different outcome. I can really see how the ending fits and centers Andy’s character.
Would I read a follow-up to this book? Definitely. Because of the way it ends, I’m hoping there will be one. If you’re looking for a fun summer camp read, check this one out.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 14 up.
Representation
Major characters are white. One of Andy’s friends appears romantically interested in people of more than one gender. Andy has anxiety/panic attacks.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used pretty infrequently. In one scene, someone starts to say the F word but is cut off.
Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. In one scene, a girl removes her shirt and states that she’s interested in doing more than kissing. What exactly she does is left vague beyond that, though.
Spiritual Content
None.
Violent Content
Andy experiences anxiety in a lot of situations at camp, including being forced into public speaking and during a swimming test. She has a panic attack while climbing a rock wall.
Boys prank a girl by pretending to be a bear while she’s out in the woods in the dark. A boy throws a girl into the lake while she’s asking him not to. He knows she’s not a strong swimmer. In both instances, the boys are confronted and apologize.
Drug Content
In one brief scene, Andy walks past some kids who are using a vape pen to smoke weed.
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