Julia is forced to attend summer camp with her "Chinese sisters" the girls that were adopted from the same orphanage she was in China. Julia has no real interest in her Chinese heritage, but the adoption agency is doing a "Where are they now?" update and her mom thought it would be a good idea. Now she's stuck at camp when she'd rather be anywhere else. This is the story of finding your own place in the world, while also accepting how other people choose to live their life.

What a beautiful story. I didn't think I was going to like it since it is a middle grade book. But I did, I loved everything about it. The setting of the summer camp was perfect. It has a lot of fun and action. It makes me wonder about my heritage and what is like to be adopted. This book is about self-discovery and friendship. I liked how Julia was not alone. She had Becca and Avery that were also adopted, with Chinese heritage, and came from the same orphanage as she did. Of course at the end, she discovered that each of her cabin member was also unique and they too had their own personal stories.

Thank you NetGalley, I received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I never got to go to sleep-away summer camp as a kid. But I have gone to my camp since I was in 3rd grade and worked there for the past 10 summers, so I always like movies and books that take place at summer camp. Nancy J. Cavanaugh’s Just Like Me is no exception.

I enjoyed reading about camp activities like free swim and bonfires, and I got totally swept up in the cabin-vs.-cabin competition in wacky challenges like Egg Emergency, Four Fruit Hop Relay, and Rowboat Relay.

But this book is about much more than just a fun week at summer camp. It’s about how Julia deals with something she always tries to ignore: the fact that she was adopted from an orphanage in China. Now she’s being forced to attend camp with Becca and Avery, two other girls who were adopted from the same orphanage. The adoption agency wants to write an article about them, and their parents (who are all friends) think sending them all to camp together will make for a wonderful bonding experience. Avery and Becca are into the idea. Julia, on the other hand, can’t think of a worse way to spend a week.

As it turns out, Julia also has to deal with an additional unexpected problem at camp: No one in her cabin is getting along, and the whole group keeps getting punished for their fights!

So, you can see that this book is a great balance between the serious, heart-tugging adoption stuff and the fun, light-hearted camp stuff. I highly recommend it for a summer read!

ARC-Netgalley