This is a good collection of many summer programs for teens with a variety of different interests, geared towards academic achievement programs, If you are looking for a good program for your teen, this may help present you with options that you wouldn't have thought have. This may not be the year for this particular book, since many of these programs will probably not be open, but in future years, this should help you select a program that will be a good fit for your teen. ( )

An excellent resource for college-bound high school students that gives 200+ classes, camps, and courses for intensive summer study. The first part of the book talks about why gifted students would want to take a summer program, and the benefits that can be derived from them, as well as the variety of options available. The second half of the book gives details of the programs in a state-by-state list, with contact information and descriptions. This would have been a great book for teenaged me, to have so many options for filling my boring summers with more enriching things to do! ( )

This handy guide offers students a look into various camps and classes offered all over the country. It gives advice to students as they plan for college and even suggest some gap year programs that are helpful and interesting. Overall I thought the guide gave some great information on programs that you might otherwise be unaware of and it gives detailed information on what each camp or class offers and how to contact them. The book was laid out in an easy to follow format and was easy to use. My biggest complaint was the lack of some kind of subject index as it divided by state. If there is a subject that my teenager is really interested in I would not hesitate to send him out of state but this book doesn't allow you to search by subject so you are forced to read through each entry to find appropriate camps or classes. I think this is a helpful guide but it would be more user friendly with a subject index as well. I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review through the early reviewers program. ( )

This book was divided into 2 parts. One explained how to choose a summer program, and the other listed the summer programs. Both parts did their job and communicated effectively when you consider the audience. With the font and the wording, it appeared the book was mostly intended for teens and then their parents. I thought the first section was a little obvious, but when you consider that the teen audience, then that made sense. I thought that section and the program listings did a great job sharing different options available. I like how the first section included gap-year programs. One improvement I would make would be to include an index. Organizing by state makes sense, but if you also have an index for subject matter, then people can also look up programs they are willing to go further for. ( )

This book is divided into two parts. Part One is called "What You Need to Know Before Choosing a Summer Program," and Part Two is a summer program directory. I found that the two parts were inconsistent with each other, and here's why:

I had very general expectations for this book. I thought that it was going to be a book that recommended a variety of programs from college prep to enrichment programs. And yes, Part Two of the book matched my expectations. However, I was taken aback by Part One, which was essentially talking about how to find a summer program that will get your teen ahead for getting into college. The focus was entirely on fast-tracking and how to get the attention of colleges, etc. The tone was not simply informational, it was like Tiger Mom tone, and I didn't like it. I didn't pick up this book to get lectured about how to push my teen son or daughter to overextend him/herself. At times Part One of the book addressed the teen directly, and I had to laugh, because the way it was written was not at all for a teen but for a teen's parents.

So, since Part One was so intensely focused on jumping into the competitive college application rat race, I then expected Part Two to be listing only summer programs that supported this line of thinking. That was not at all the case. The summer programs included some that were for grades 3-12 (yes, elementary age), and some programs were just fun camps that were only 3 days long. Well, what happened to the Part One attitude about everything having to be focused on college prep? The book needs to be consistent, one way or another. Either be a book strictly about college prep, or be a book about more general summer programs. Also, if you're going to be so Tiger Mom in Part One, then you better not have grammatical errors in your book like using the phrase "comprised of." Ugh.

I actually kind-of liked Part Two because there were a lot of programs I'd never heard of. But Part Two wasn't arranged very well. It was split up by state, with the states listed alphabetically. So the first state was Alabama, and it listed all the programs in Alabama; then came California and all its programs. Well, this just didn't make sense to me. If you're trying to find a Tiger Mom-pleasing summer program for a teen, you're not going to care what state the program is in. You're going to care what subject matter the summer program covers. There was no other way to look up information in the book. For a book like this, you need to have multiple ways to look up programs:
-- By subject (math, engineering, veterinary, computer programming, music & theatre arts, etc.).
-- By age range
-- By geographic location
-- By whether the program costs money or is free or pays students a stipend

It's really useless to list things only geographically, because I have to read THE ENTIRE BOOK just to see what programs there are. This type of book is a reference book. I shouldn't have to read the entire book just to glean the information that I need.

For what the book has in it, it's pretty good, but the inconsistency between parts One and Two bothered me, and the lack of flexibility in looking up information was a huge drawback. ( )