Take It from the Top

by Claire Swinarski

Overview

Set at a camp over the course of six summers, this novel dives into the falling-out of two girls from different backgrounds who thought they'd be friends forever. Claire Swinarski, Edgar Award nominee of the ALA Notable What Happened to Rachel Riley?, tackles privilege, perspective, and the power of friendship in this page-turning puzzle that readers will devour.

Eowyn Becker has waited all year to attend her sixth summer at Lamplighter Lake Summer Camp. Here, she’s not in the shadow of her Broadway-star older brother; she’s a stellar performer in her own right. Here, the pain of her mom’s death can’t reach her, and she gets to reunite with her best friend, Jules Marrigan—the only person in the world who understands her.

But when she gets to camp, everything seems wrong. The best-friend reunion Eowyn had been dreaming of doesn’t go as planned. Jules will barely even look at Eowyn, let alone talk to her, and Eowyn has no idea why.

Well, maybe she does…

There are two sides to every story, and if you want to understand this one, you’ll need to hear both. Told in a series of alternating chapters that dip back to past summers, the girls’ story will soon reveal how Eowyn and Jules went from being best friends to fierce foils. Can they mend ways before the curtains close on what was supposed to be the best summer of their lives?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063321755
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	11/19/2024
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Claire Swinarski is the author of multiple books for both kids and adults. Her writing has been featured in the Washington Post, Seventeen, Milwaukee magazine, and many other publications. She lives in small-town Wisconsin with her husband and three kids, where she writes books, wears babies, and wrangles bread dough.

Editorial Reviews

★ 09/16/2024

Eowyn Becker lives for theater summer camp, where she can follow in her deceased stage star mother’s footsteps and finally hang out with her long-distance best friend Jules. The northern Wisconsin camp also provides welcome relief from the stress of her Broadway star older brother’s career and her distracted, grieving father. As 13-year-olds, Eowyn and Jules get to participate in the musical production at the end of the summer, and as the camp’s best singer, Eowyn is gunning for a leading role, despite her stage fright that’s been getting worse. And Jules has seemed distant lately, even cold. Eowyn doesn’t understand why but worries that it’s because of a disastrous incident during last year’s show. When the two are cast as leads in Wicked, Eowyn hopes that working together will help mend their friendship, but the rift only deepens. The vibrant and exceptionally rendered setting makes for a compelling backdrop against which layered character building unravels. Swinarski (What Happened to Rachel Riley?) intersperses Eowyn’s conversational narration—suffused with theater-obsessed sensibilities—with sympathetic third person chapters that cover the events of previous summers, offering context and history to the white-cued girls’ relationship. Ages 8–12. Agent: Alexander Slater, Sanford J. Greenburger Assoc. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

"This book left my heart feeling so full. Take It from the Top perfectly captures the magic of summer camp and the joy of musical theater, all while exploring themes of jealousy and life’s inherent unfairness. Ultimately, it is a book about giving others grace—and giving yourself some, too."   — Arianne Costner, author of Confessions of a Class Clown

“Brimming with heart and musical theater fun, Eowyn and Jules’s journey will leave readers cheering for the healing power of friendship.” — —Beth Turley, author of The Flyers

"[A] masterful exploration of friendship gone wrong. Evocative worldbuilding brings Lamplighter to life for the intimately developed, well-intentioned characters who often struggle to see other points of view. The well-paced interweaving of multiple summers’ experiences builds tension and shines light on how the past reverberates into the present. Brilliantly executed: a gem that’s a love letter to theater and summer camp." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

From the Publisher