Written by Natalie Hyde
DCB Young Readers
978-1-770868199
246 pp.
Ages 9–12
March 2026
"Sometimes, inspiration and creativity combine in weird and wonderful ways to produce something unexpected." (pg. 99)
It's whispered that Briarwood is a camp of magic, and Callie Garcia is desperate to go there. When a teacher accuses her of cheating on the entrance test and Smedley St. Claire is selected to go instead of her—though she'd scored 98%—Callie believes her dream of following in the tradition of her grandmother's grandfather, Theo Garcia, is lost. GG Theo was a man of ideas who'd left a journal of scientific formulas and inventions' designs and a final message to "Find Archer." But then the director of Briarwood, a Dr. Archer, intervenes and offers Callie a job as a mechanic and she wonders if she has been fated to attend.
Briarwood is a camp in the trees, with bunkhouses, walkways, bridges, and all workings powered by steam. So, while her bunkmates Smedley, Shawna, Hank, Tiffany and Dan participate in activities like swimming, alchemy, ropes, and rocketry, Callie is told she'll be reporting to Mr. Davenport. Instead, it's Dr. Archer who takes her to a treehouse lab where she will be fixing things. But there's also a secret lab which she is not allowed to enter, although Dr. Archer tells her that if anything happens to him she is to hide or destroy the special wrench that will allow access to it.
When Callie sees inventions that resemble those in her GG Theo's journal, like a hovering bicycle, she knows there must be a connection. But she's too busy trying to figure out the nature of the special metallic water that powers the machines at Briarwood. She is warned against touching the water ever, and not to tell others about what she has seen. With readings of journals at the lab and that of her GG Theo, as well as with her observations, Callie starts putting together a story or two of deception, surveillance, sabotage, and science. And when Dr. Archer goes missing, Callie with a few bunkmates whom she may or may not trust sets out to save Briarwood and its director.
Briarwood is magical, but not magical in the supernatural sense. It's wonder comes from the automated nature of its workings, like food delivery at the table, mechanical chameleons that carry messages, and the zip bridges that appear and disappear. Natalie Hyde has created a weird and wonderful place of creativity and engineering, a camp where ingenuity is encouraged, and young people are challenged to see marvels in the mechanisms within. She has shown us clever middle graders who are neither stereotypes of nerdy brainiacs or unrealistic pre-teens with unbelievable skills or strengths. Natalie Hyde makes Briarwood and the mystery to be solved true to life. Moreover, Natalie Hyde makes science, specifically mechanical engineering and chemistry, a fantastical element to the story. The inventions are amazing and yet possible. Camp Briarwood is a marvel that would captivate any young person with imagination and a sense of discovery.
While many young people will be attending summer camps this year, I doubt any camps will be as amazing as the marvel that is Briarwood. Still, I hope that, wherever they go, they find friendship, challenges, perhaps a little mystery, and a whole lot of wonder, just as Callie did at Briarwood.
