Dad Camp: A Novel

A heartwarming novel about a dad who whisks his 11-year-old daughter away to a week-long father-daughter camp to bond before he loses her to teenage girlhood entirely, and ends up reconnecting with the person he gave up to become a Super Dad

After his daughter, Avery, was born, he gave it all up—hobbies, friends, a dream job—to be something more: A Super Dad. Since then, he’s spent nearly every waking second with Avery, who’s his absolute best bud. Or, at least, she was.

When now 11-year-old Avery begins transforming into an eye-rolling zombie of a preteen who dreads spending time with him, a desperate John whisks her away for a weeklong father-daughter retreat to get their relationship back on track before she starts middle school.

But John’s attempts to bond only seem to drive his daughter further away, and his instincts tell him Avery’s hiding something more than just preteen angst. And the camp isn’t the idyllic getaway he had in mind. John finds himself navigating a group of toxic dads that can’t seem to get along, cringe-worthy forced bonding activities, and a camp director that has it out for him. But John knows he’ll have to conquer it all to have any chance of convincing Avery to join him at the big end-of-week Father-Daughter dance.

Story Locale:Summer camp

About the Author

Evan Porter is a dad to two girls (7 and 2), a blogger, and a freelance writer. He runs the parenting blog Dad Fixes Everything and has contributed to Parents Magazine, The Onion News Network, AskMen, The Good Men Project, Upworthy, and more. He lives in Atlanta with his wife, two girls, two dogs, and not much in the way of elbow room. Dad Camp is his first novel.

Author Residence: Atlanta, GA

Author Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia