From Camper to Author: “Notes from the Camp Bunk: A Guide for First Time Campers from a Camper”

We want our students to dream big and to find ways to make an impact on our community. For one 7^th grader, she did exactly that. Our very own Willow’s student, Eden Martin, wrote and self-published, “Notes from the Camp Bunk: A Guide for First Time Campers from a Camper,” a book to help kids feel more confident about attending camp for the first time.

For years, Eden has been attending sleepaway camp 3000 miles away and from her experiences, she recognized that many kids miss out on this amazing experience because of fear. She wrote this book with the hope to help kids overcome their fear of going to sleepaway camp for the first time.

For the past year, Eden worked on writing her book at home and at The Willows Writing Club. The process was long and required researching the history of camps in the United states, learning how to follow a format, creating a book cover, and finding an editor. She wanted her book to be a kid version of Dr. Michael Thompson’s book, “Homesick and Happy”, which is a book for parents about camp. Eden knew that book played a pivotal point in her father’s decision to allow her to attend her first sleepaway camp. Eden took it upon herself to reach out to Dr. Michael Thompson and see if he would be willing to talk about her book. They met via FaceTime, she in California and he in Massachusetts, and Michael Thompson provided her with specific feedback and suggestions, and ended it by speaking about the wonders of summer camp. 

Eden took some time to talk to us about her process and journey to self-publish her book.

What inspired you to write this book?

I had read Caleb Maddix’s book, “Keys to Success for Kids.” He’s a kid entrepreneur. In his book, he talked about setting goals and following through with them. I noticed that there weren’t any books for kids about going to camp and definitely not one written by a kid, so I thought I would make that my goal, to write a book about going to camp for the 1st time.

What words of advice can you give other kids your age that want to write a book?

Be committed and choose something you are passionate to write about. Remember what effect you want to have on the reader.

What was the process like from writing a rough draft to getting it published? Any difficulties?

The rough draft was actually many drafts.  It was helpful to have many people read the draft and give suggestions. I was able to meet with Michael Thompson who had written a book about sleepaway camp for parents. He gave me some good feedback.

What was the hardest part for you?

The hardest part was the middle part of the book. I felt really motivated at the beginning,

It was hard to get myself to keep on going. The pandemic made it difficult as well because I was on the computer all day anyway. Screens nonstop.

Do you feel The Willows education helped you in this process of writing a book?

I attended Liz’s writing club which really helped keep me going. It was really inspiring that we have a writing club and were allowed to work on anything we wanted. 

At The Willows, we thrive for our students to think outside of the box, challenge themselves, and become citizens-of-the-world. Eden is a prime example of that. We are certain, Eden’s book and journey will inspire others and that one day, kids will reach out to Eden to ask her for a meeting.

Eden’s book is available for sale at Village Well Books and Coffee as well as many camp stores and on Amazon.