Celebrated author, historian, songwriter and musician Rika Ruebsaat will launch her latest book Thursday, March 2, at the Princeton Library.

Friends, fans and readers of all kinds are invited for a booking signing and reading from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the branch on Vermilion Avenue.

My Paddle’s Keen and Bright is a collection of stories about campers’ summer camp experiences.

As anyone who knows Ruebsaat and her husband John Bartlett will expect, the event will also include a sing-a-long of – naturally – camp songs.

The book is described as a “unique perspective into a world that continues to leave an indelible mark on society, even as the world of summer camp slips into history…

“Every facet of camp experience is described, from the bus or boat that takes you away from the familiars into a new world of strangers, to the bittersweet partings and memories lasting a lifetime,” said a news release promoting the book launching.

Campers describe the terror, and exhilaration, of learning about new people and different lives outside of their own families; the food, strange rituals, and exciting new adventures involving boats, or horses, or hikes, chores, even practical jokes.

“Here are the vivid recollections of passionate friendships made in the course of a few days; of crushes on counsellors; the campfires and songs; the first fumbling sexual explorations; the skinned knees and overcome fears; the lessons learned and carried for the rest of their lives,” stated the release.

Ruebsaat and Bartlett are co-authors of Soviet Princeton, a B.C. Book Prize finalist in 2016.

Soviet Princeton details life and violent political conflict during the Great Depression in Princeton.

The book was also shortlisted for Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Historical Writing and the Haig-Brown Prize.

As well, they authored Dead Horse on the Tulameen, and have recorded numerous albums and CDs featuring traditional folk music.

Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email:andrea.demeer@similkameenspotlight.com