Camp Pock-a-Wocknee and the Dyno-mite Summer of ’77 by Eric Glickman; Toronto, Ontario: Black Panel Press, © 2022; ISBN 9781990-521072; 300 pages; $29.99.
SAN DIEGO – Although this graphic novel is about sleepaway summer camp, there’s a warning that it is not a book for kids. That’s because it’s graphic in another sense, with scatological and sexual images pertaining to the hopes and imagination of adolescent boys.
The pervasive theme is boys hoping to score with young girls, who live in a separate part of the camp but who share daytime and some nighttime activities. We learn that the camp had its special songs, breakfast routines, sports competitions, myths, color war, parents’ day, and a scary story that generations of counselors told the young campers. At Camp Pock-a-Wocknee, it was all about “The Man in the Poncho” who could sometimes be seen standing by the side of the road.
Mostly, however, we learn about how boys becoming young teens fantasize about having their first sexual experiences and how embarrassed some become when a chance actually presents itself.
The story is laugh-out-loud wacky and has enough other content to qualify as a Jewish novel.
If you remember the television shows and popular songs of the late 1970s, this book is replete with references to them along with partial lyrics. For those who were born sometime in the 1960s, this novel will occasion lots of nostalgia.
The book comes with a disclaimer. “This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events, is purely coincidental.”
Oh, sure.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor emeritus of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com