What I Learned at Bug Camp 

Essays on Finding a Home in the World 

by Sarah Juniper Rabkin 

with illustrations by the author 

What I Learned at Bug Camp offers a compelling inquiry through the eyes of an artist, naturalist, and teacher. Sarah Rabkin joins personal essay and science journalism in fluent, spirited prose that probes the spaces between science and art, autonomy and community, doubt and faith. On a passionate quest for a "home in the world," she creates bridges out of stories, inviting us to join her on the trail.

From the slopes of the Sierra Nevada to the contours of her body, Sarah Rabkin has retraced her own natural history. In this curious, precise and (mostly) fearless journey she beautifully proves that the best teachers never stop being students.

—Roger B. Swain

author of Earthly Pleasures and Saving Graces

Beautifully written and illustrated . . . thoughtful, compelling and insightful. 

—Susan J. Tweit, author of Walking Nature Home 

How do you find your way, if you set out to follow your heart? There are tough questions and hard-earned answers in Sarah Rabkin’s wonderful collection of essays . . . Everyone who aspires to live intentionally and honorably in this lovely, careworn world will want to read this book. 

—Kathleen Dean Moore, author of Wild Comfort 

How can we cultivate the naturalist’s attitude of “expectant curiosity,” the “traveler’s openness”? Sarah Rabkin pursues this quest in the deliciously tactile language of a born observer, wedded to a master’s skill at persuasive argument. The quality of her attention is vivid and penetrating, funny and relaxed. 

—Hannah Hinchman, author of A Trail Through Leaves: The Journal as a Path to Place

Through the gift of Sarah Rabkin’s graceful and generous-hearted prose we see the world as a unified and delicious whole. . . . She’s a careful thinker, an elegant writer, and a fine companion. 

—Thomas Lowe Fleischner, Professor of Environmental Studies, Prescott College

Sarah Rabkin grew up in Berkeley, California, in the 1960s and 1970s. An award-winning teacher of writing and environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, she lives near the shore of Monterey Bay with her husband, poet Charles Atkinson. 

Ordering Information:

Order through your local bookstore, the online version of the wonderful independent bookstore Bookshop Santa Cruz, or Amazon.com. To order direct from Juniper Lake Press, send check payable to HerBooks for $15.00 per copy plus $2.50 shipping for the first book and .25 for each additional book to PO Box 7467, Santa Cruz, CA 95061. 

Bookstore Orders: Bookstores order through Juniper Lake Press: 40% discount, no minimum order; returnable if in resalable condition. Call 831-476-5931. Or order direct from Ingram Book Company. 

ISBN: 987-0-9843196-1-9 

Reviews of What I Learned at Bug Camp