Something wicked this way comes...hopefully, a sequel in the making.
Camp Jay Bird is alive with secrets...or is it?
In his comics, Frank is the mighty Super Bear, who fears only three things: math, his dad, and summer camp. But in real life, shy and nervous Frank is about as unbearlike as a bear can be. Sent away to camp by his father, he’s sure that his summer is ruined; the only thing worse than the bullies are the bugs, and he's the only bear there, to boot! At least with a friend by his side, Ricky, a hyperexcitable raccoon, the ordeal has the potential to become an adventure...perhaps more of an adventure than either bargained for. In the (un)dead of night, Frank and Ricky soon discover that some secrets are better left undisturbed. Schnapp's debut graphic novel doesn't seem certain whether it'll become a detective-duo heist, a moving and cautionary tale of friendship and openness prevailing against prejudice, or a chilling campfire yarn, but it somehow manages to be all three and more. Varying in size, palette, and intricacy, the panels are wonderfully dynamic and engaging. Hints of characterization come through both explicitly and in the easy-to-overlook details, and even minor characters are imbued with surprising depth. The first in a thrilling series, this one forgoes the cliffhanger entirely and plunges straight over the edge, leaving readers hungry for more.
Something wicked this way comes...hopefully, a sequel in the making. (Graphic novel. 8-12.)Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-60309-510-5
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Top Shelf Productions
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
An insubstantial story that offers a prosocial message.
Two boys equally blessed with both talent and ego vie for supremacy in their school’s annual “creative storytelling competition.”
J is “by far the best artist in the entire fifth grade”; K has “become known as the best writer in the entire fifth grade.” Naturally, each one is determined to crush it in The Contest, and each decides an illustrated story is the way to go. The competitive boys try to undermine one another by passing along fake tips for success, each hoping to destroy his opponent’s story. K advises J to “write what you DON’T know” and to use sixth-person narration. “J’s Secrets to Drawing Really Good” are just as catastrophic and include drawing with your nondominant hand and inserting mistakes to keep readers engaged. Creative hijinks ensue. Craft and Alexander have become known on social media for the jocular trash talk they heap on each other; J and K are their fictional child avatars. As an internet bit doled out in small doses, their frenemy-ship is amusing; as a sustained story about storytelling, it’s thin on both character and plot development. Authorial interjections exhort readers to look up 75-cent vocabulary, often used in barbs directed at each other; the latter feel like in-jokes more than playful attempts to engage young readers. Kids may enjoy spotting references to popular children’s authors among the characters’ names, and budding authors and illustrators will benefit from the advice. J and K are both Black; their classmates and teachers are racially diverse.
An insubstantial story that offers a prosocial message. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780316582681
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and...
Catrina narrates the story of her mixed-race (Latino/white) family’s move from Southern California to Bahía de la Luna on the Northern California coast.
Dad has a new job, but it’s little sister Maya’s lungs that motivate the move: she has had cystic fibrosis since birth—a degenerative breathing condition. Despite her health, Maya loves adventure, even if her lungs suffer for it and even when Cat must follow to keep her safe. When Carlos, a tall, brown, and handsome teen Ghost Tour guide introduces the sisters to the Bahía ghosts—most of whom were Spanish-speaking Mexicans when alive—they fascinate Maya and she them, but the terrified Cat wants only to get herself and Maya back to safety. When the ghost adventure leads to Maya’s hospitalization, Cat blames both herself and Carlos, which makes seeing him at school difficult. As Cat awakens to the meaning of Halloween and Day of the Dead in this strange new home, she comes to understand the importance of the ghosts both to herself and to Maya. Telgemeier neatly balances enough issues that a lesser artist would split them into separate stories and delivers as much delight textually as visually. The backmatter includes snippets from Telgemeier’s sketchbook and a photo of her in Día makeup.
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and unable to put down this compelling tale. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-54061-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
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