Caitlin's Buddy

By K. Lang-Slattery

First-time campers can be a lot of trouble! Caitlin agrees to be the buddy of a new camper. She and new camper Misha are assigned to the most rustic area where campers sleep in tents and cook over an open fire. Misha doesn't know anything about camp life. She trips over tent stakes, cries herself to sleep, and hides food in her backpack. Caitlin often gets frustrated as she teaches Misha what she needs to know. Caitlyn’s Buddy describes fun camping activities, outdoor cooking, and the growing friendship of two very different girls. As the days pass, Misha learns the importance of teamwork and Caitlyn realizes everyone has something special to contribute. Then, after a campfire, Misha runs off into the dark night and Caitlin follows to stop her. Will Caitlin be able to forgive Misha for getting them lost? Will the two girls only be temporary tentmates or friends forever? Children, in grades 1 thru 4 (ages 5 to 9), especially girls who will be going to summer camp for the first time will enjoy the feeling of taking part in summer camp adventures and sharing the ups and downs of new friendships.

• Language: English
• Publisher: K. Lang-Slattery
• Release date: Apr 8, 2020
• ISBN: 9781734279610

K. Lang-Slattery

Born during World War II and raised in 1950s Southern California, Kathryn Lang-Slattery enjoyed a childhood filled with reading, drawing, and long days at the beach. College took her to Los Angeles where she studied art and English at UCLA, graduated with a BFA, and then undertook graduate work in art and education at the University of the Americas in Mexico City. In the following years she taught art, English, and cooking, travelled around the world, raised a daughter and a son, and devoted over 20 years to the Girl Scouts as a leader and community supervisor. Finally, she returned to her early love of writing. She has had stories and articles published in several highly rated magazines for the youth market, including Spider, Ladybug, Jack and Jill, Boys’ Life, and Faces.In the 1990s, Lang-Slattery became fascinated with her uncle’s World War II stories and began taping his memories. Soon she knew she had found a fascinating untold story of Jewish refugees who became silent heroes. More than a decade spent researching, interviewing Ritchie Boys, and turning the true story of her uncle into fiction became an odyssey of discovery that resulted in her first adult novel, Immigrant Soldier, The Story of a Ritchie Boy. . “I wanted to tell this story,” she says, “because it was different from any other Holocaust story I had read. The young Jewish hero is not a victim, but a young man who gradually grows from a frightened and frustrated teenager, looking for a place to belong, into a confident US Army intelligence officer who struggles with the conflicting emotions of hate and forgiveness.”Kathryn has become an expert on the secret heroes known as The Ritchie Boys and her experiences as an indie-publisher have given her insight into this long and complicated process. Always an educator, she is happy to share what she has learned along the way.After two years spent promoting her novel, Lang-Slattery has returned to children’s literature. Her early chapter book series is based on her childhood memories of summer camp where her mother was the life-guard and backpacking specialist. Written for ages five to nine, Tagalong Caitlin is about a little girl with big ideas, a plan to help her reach her goal, and determination. Caitlin’s Buddy is about camp experiences and friendship.Kathryn’s memoir, Wherever the Road Leads, recounts living and traveling in a Volkswagen van with her new husband. Their adventure lasted two years and took them across four continentsKathryn (who prefers to be called Katie) lives in Laguna Beach, only steps from her childhood home. She finds tranquillity simply by looking out the large windows of her living room toward a view of her garden and Aliso Peak beyond.

Book preview

Title Page

Copyright © 2020 by Kathryn Lang-Slattery

Illustrations © 2020 Ron Whitacre and Kathryn Lang-Slattery

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

ISBN: 978-0-9906742-9-0 (paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-7342796-0-3 (Kindle)

ISBN:978-1-7342795-1-0 (epub)

Summary: Seven-year-old Caitlin offers to be the tentmate of a brand-new camper who keeps making mistakes, including getting them both lost the night of the big campfire.

1. Summer Camp—Fiction

2. Outdoor Cooking—Fiction

Library of Congress Number: 2020902665

Cover and Book Design by Lorie DeWorken, Mind the Margins, LLC

Edited by Lorraine Fico-White, Magnifico Manuscripts, LLC

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

1. A Favor

2. Misha Arrives

3. Prim Is for Primitive

4. Snuggles and Golden

5. Tent Troubles

6. Best Breakfast Ever

7. Camp Fun

8. Going on a Bear Hunt

9. We’re Not Afraid

10. Buddies

About the Author

About the Illustrator

The afternoon sun was hot. Caitlin spread an old blanket in the shade of a tall pine tree. She lay on her tummy and read her book. There was just enough time to read another chapter before the dinner bell rang.

In the middle of reading the chapter, Caitlin heard the chattering of a squirrel. A small pine cone dropped from above and landed on the blanket in front of her. When she looked up, she saw her mom walking down the hill.

Mom came over and sat beside Caitlin. I’m glad you’re here, she said. "I