Miss Manhattan

Miss Manhattan (U.S. title: Natalie's Secret) is the first book in the Summer Camp Secrets series.

UK blurb
"Camp Lakeview? Ugh. Camp Lake-puke more like. On a scale of 1-10, the idea of going to summer camp rates about minus three. What's so great about the outdoors, anyway? If trees were important, there would be more of them in New York City. But my mother thinks that camp will help me 'build character.' And my dad? Um, it's kind of a long story..."

City chick Natalie is more interested in fresh sushi than fresh air, so she's not looking forward to summer camp. But aside from the gross food and the huge spiders, there are actually some pretty cool girls in bunk 3C and Natalie starts to think she might even enjoy herself - unless her big secret gets out...

U.S. blurb
"Camp Lakeview? Ugh. On a scale of 1 - 10, I want to go to camp times, like, negative three. What's so great about the outdoors, anyway? If trees were that important, there would be more of them in New York City. But mom thinks that camp will help me 'build character.' And dad? Um, it's kind of a long story..."

Eleven-year-old Natalie Goode is a total city girl, way more interested in fresh sushi than fresh air. So she's less-than-thrilled when her mother ships her off to sleepaway away for the summer. Before long, though, Natalie notices that despite the sticky mess-hall benches and the spiders in the shower stalls, there are some pretty cool girls at Camp "Lake-puke." If she can loosen up and let them in, she just might enjoy herself - unless, of course, the secret that she's been keeping gets in her way...

Plot
Natalie is begrudgingly sent to Camp Lakeview for the summer whilst her mother is on an art buying trip to Europe. After writing a letter to her best friend Hannah, she falls asleep and is woken by Alyssa before leaving the bus to find her bunk, 3C. She soon meets all of her bunkmates. At the cookout, she learns that 3C has a rivalry with fellow bunk 3A.

The following day, after an unappetizing breakfast, she meets Simon, a boy who is in bunk 3F. Natalie spends time with some of her bunkmates in her electives, nature and newspaper. She and the rest of 3C join in with Jenna on her plan to prank her brother Adam's bunk. Alyssa accidentally sprains her ankle during the nighttime raid, with Simon and Natalie offering to take her to the infirmary for treatment.

After a sports session, Natalie and Alex walk to dinner when they notice a commotion, revealing to be the famous movie star, Tad Maxwell. Natalie is stunned to find her father at camp, which leads to them talking on the steps of her bunk before Tad whisks his daughter for lunch outside of Lakeview. Upon returning, he allows Natalie to bring food for her bunk and she returns to 3C, where she finds Pete and Marissa talking, before catching up on the last minutes of capture the flag. Her bunkmates become awkward around her due to the revelation of a movie star being her dad.

The next morning, Natalie discovers that her nature group are set to go on a overnight camping trip; she gets grouped with Simon and Chelsea since the group has an uneven number of campers. Chelsea begins to moan about Natalie until she spots a white rabbit and attempts to take a picture of it, leading to her chasing after the rabbit along with Simon and Natalie. After managing to save Chelsea from falling and bringing her back to their campsite, Natalie and Simon have a moment alone together.

3C discuss the events of the previous day. Before lights out, the girls take a magazine quiz and Natalie starts to accept she may enjoy summer camp.

Characters
In order of appearance:
 * Natalie Goode
 * Grace Matthews
 * Pete
 * Alyssa
 * Helen Proctor/Nurse Helen
 * Julie
 * Karen
 * Marissa
 * Alex Kim
 * Simon
 * Chelsea
 * Candace
 * Jenna Bloom
 * Brynn Collins
 * Sarah Peyton
 * Valerie Williams
 * Jessie
 * Tad Maxwell
 * Josie McLaughlan
 * Caleb

Trivia

 * The U.S. blurb mentions spiders in the shower stalls, but the book itself states there was a spider on the toilet seat.