I’m So Vain, I Probably Think This Book Is About Me

Back in 2014, a friend read Breakfast Served Anytime by Sarah Combs. She recommended I read it because it was set in my home state of Kentucky. Another friend chose it for our book club. Or maybe I did? I’m old and things are fuzzy. Regardless, I obviously read the book.

The book centers on Gloria, a rising high school senior who is about to spend her summer attending “Geek Camp” Geek Camp is a summer program for gifted rising Kentucky high school seniors. They spend the summer on a college campus studying a particular subject. Gloria has chosen Secrets of the Written Word. Only three other students have chosen the topic. The mysterious Professor X never appears in class but leaves behind mysterious clues for them to solve. The four become good friends or, in the case of Gloria and Mason, more than friends. They spend time exploring campus and hanging out at a diner that serves breakfast anytime.

The author is from Kentucky and participated in the Governor’s Scholar Program as a rising senior. The Governor’s Scholar program is for gifted rising Kentucky high school seniors. They spend a summer on a college campus studying a subject they’ve chosen.

I grew up in Kentucky. I attended the Governor’s Scholar Program as a rising Kentucky high school senior. I spent the summer on the campus of the University of Kentucky studying English. I also found a group of friends. We did not meet in class. I was a very shy, weird kid who was not going to be good at making friends. On my first day there I went to find the room where another person from my school was housed, I figured I could hang out with them all summer. Instead, I became friends with their roommate. Through him, I became friends with a group that formed a band that played in the talent shows.

We spent time exploring the campus. We played in the fountain and ran away when we were going to get in trouble for playing in the fountain. We talked and connected. People fell in love. No one fell in love with me. The story of my high school life. I went on field trips I will never forget. The most memorable — the one where the bus got stuck on a bridge and we all had to exit and wait for an extended time while watching the driver desperately trying to unstick the bus.