GUMSHOE

From the creator of the Sheets series comes a graphic novel about young sleuths who chase a notorious mail-stealing bandit.

Willa, who presents white, is known as the “quiet girl” in her fictional town of Stony Lonesome. Willa dreads speaking to people outside her immediate family and struggles to connect with others. She dreams of becoming a mail carrier and being “part of the world’s most beautiful way of communicating”—writing. When Willa is mistaken for the mail thief Two Gum Tilly, her dream of becoming a postal worker seems to be threatened. In an effort to clear her name, Willa joins the Gumshoe Gang, a racially diverse group of runaway girls whose mission it is to capture Two Gum Tilly. As a member of the gang, Willa finally feels accepted, and she gradually learns that the others have their own unique struggles. Thummler uses vibrant shades of yellow, pink, purple, and blue to depict the Arizona landscape. Flashbacks filling in Two Gum Tilly’s story are portrayed in a sepia-toned palette. The characters speak in a style reminiscent of Old West movies (“Darn tootin’”), and both the mail workers and the Gumshoe Gang sport kitschy, cowboy-inspired uniforms. Willa’s inner dialogue authentically reveals her struggles with social anxiety; the other runaways’ backstories feel underdeveloped and unconvincing, however. Additionally, Willa’s parents feel one-dimensional in their response to her disappearance and mental health.

A visually appealing, girl-powered, Western-inspired mystery that affirms quiet kids.