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Girl Off The Grid by Jillian Dodd and Kenzie Harp is a mother and daughter
collaboration about a young college student, Camille Caldwell taking a step out
of her comfort zone a little unwittingly.
Camille is a modern
fashion-conscious college student who is looking for her big break. She is making a name for herself as a fashion
blogger with a YouTube channel, Effortlessly Camille, that teaches other young
women some of her unique style techniques.
Camille is interested in an internship and gets a call from a top
fashion magazine to write an article after going on an eco-trip to Costa
Rica. Since they are also sending a
photographer, Camille doesn’t focus on the eco part of the trip and plans on a
lot of fashion shoots. Why wouldn’t she
think that since it is her YouTube presence that got her in the door?
Adam Lloyd is the young
photographer who is selected to go on the trip with Camille. He is given the job based on the
recommendation of his father who is a famous photographer, Oliver Lloyd. Oliver shared Adam’s portfolio with the
magazine editor, Janet Hall. Adam
doesn’t want this gig, but his father explains that it could be just the
exposure he needs to begin to make his name in the big leagues.
Adam and Camille couldn’t be
more different. Adam has spent most of
his life a loner traveling with his parents.
They go on photo shoots with his dad and anthropology expeditions with
his mom. Camille is a New York City
girl. She has a very limited experience
outside of the City. Adam loves
nature. Camille loves fashion and
material things. No doubt they will butt
heads.
Girl Off The Grid is a cute story that brings two very different young
people together to learn that they can relate to a lot of the same things,
especially the environment. At the end
of the book, the authors mention that they selected this age because of the
perspective and willingness of the young to see the world uniquely at this age.
While I understand the
reasoning, Camille seems a little too immature not so much for the excursion
and the learning experience but the romance and an unchaperoned trip. Truthfully, I expected Janet to have a hidden
agenda. Also, I wanted to feel some more chemistry between Adam and
Camille. There is a lot of time dancing
around their relationship and not moving it forward.
It is evident that this
mother-daughter writing team is environmentally aware and have a passion for
the cause. I enjoyed the geographical
and wildlife information about the Costa Rica and Panama landscape more than
the romance part of the story. In fact,
the romance often feels like an afterthought or forced at times.
Overall, Girl Off The Grid is a
book with a real environmental message and a sweet, young love story. Some of the profits from the book will go to
the sea turtle conservatory so in addition to a reading adventure you are
helping a good cause. There is a lot of useful information about Costa Rica and
the Central American terrain to glean from the read too.
3.5 Stamps
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