CAMP SCREAM #1

A lively, just-scary-enough new series makes its thrilling debut.

Best friends and next-door neighbors Max Wong and Kiana Kaori Reyes are off to Camp Sacretama. Kiana is “super excited,” but Max is more than a bit worried. When Max’s dad drops them off, “the darkness is so blanket-heavy that Max almost forgets it’s daytime.” Even Kiana shows “something like…FEAR” upon noticing the entrance’s wooden sign is missing just the right letters to spell “Camp Scream.” Head counselor Shipton cheerily greets the pair, but things inside only get stranger, especially since no one else is around. Max’s sleuthing reveals Shipton’s not human (“This is a monster camp, after all”); in fact, the only humans are Max and Kiana. Shipton confesses that the camp needs at least two human kids, not for dinner but to keep Scream open—no monstrous discrimination allowed, insist local human parents, although none of them will enroll their own children. Let the “fangtastic summer” begin—with kappas, vampires, mummies, and were-creatures. Animator Eng enhances Yung’s entertaining narrative with delightfully rambunctious black-and-white illustrations. Yung also embeds clever humor for parents/caregivers reading along—chapter title riffs (“Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun”), an invisible boy named Ellison. Appended “Think! Feel! Act!” exercises invite interactive responses. Max is cued Chinese American; Kiana has light brown skin and uses Japanese slang words. A sneak peek of Book 2 intrigues.

A shocking first week of summer camp enthralls and engrosses.