Two Young-Adult Books That Capture the Fun and Adventure of Summer Camp

April 29, 2011 - PRLog -- Short Hills, New Jersey - Anyone who has attended sleep-away camp remembers the magic of their first summer:  discovering the great outdoors, making new friends – even the homesickness and bug bites.   Young-adult novelist Ofer Aronskind paints a vivid picture of sleep-away camp in his two novels, Summer Sleep-Away and That Same Summer.  

Readers of all ages will appreciate these delightful, coming-of-age tales of adventure, discovery and personal growth.  For an added twist, both books include the same set of characters and describe events from the same summer -- but from two different perspectives.  

In Summer Sleep-Away, 12-year-old Mattie Kleinfeld begins his summer far from home, separated from his family and not knowing a soul.  At first he was scared, homesick and cried himself to sleep. Soon, however, the tears gave way to new friends and fantastic adventures.  At summer’s end, Mattie returns home with newly-found confidence and a better understanding of his family’s unique background.  When Mattie’s best friend, Ari, reads his book, he decides that he needs to tell his version of the events that took place during that amazing summer at camp. Ari’s book, That Same Summer, proceeds to fill in the gaps where Mattie's tale leaves off.

Mr. Aronskind drew inspiration for his summer camp books from his own family background.  The Aronskinds operated summer camps in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts for over 15 years.  The adventures and anecdotes in this book, although fictionalized, are his boyhood memories.  “The experiences of sleep-away camp haven’t really changed over the past few decades,” Ofer explains.  “Whether you’re a child heading off to camp for the first time, or a parent who wants to bring back childhood memories, you’ll find something to relate to in Summer Sleep-Away and That Same Summer.”

In addition to Summer Sleep-Away and That Same Summer, Mr. Aronskind has published two other young-adult novels, Escape from Sunday School and The Celebrities of Summer School.  

Mr. Aronskind’s books are published by iUniverse and are currently available through popular e-commerce sites including iUniverse, barnesandnoble.com, amazon.com and bookstore.com.  

For more information, please visit http://www.sleepawaysummercamp.com.

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Ofer Aronskind was born in Tel Aviv, Israel and came to the United States at the age of six. He grew up in Little Neck, Queens, on the outskirts of New York City. He attended SUNY Albany then took a year off after college where he spent the year in Los Angeles writing screenplays. The following year he came back to NY to attend St. John's University School of Law and graduated in 1989. He went to work at the law firm of Weil Gotshal & Manges as a real estate attorney and worked there until 1997. He now lives in Short Hills, New Jersey with his three sons and is a real estate investor.

For more publications by Ofer Aronskind please visit: http://www.sleepawaysummercamp.com/ofer_aronskind_blogs.html