Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

This morning I finished the last few pages of Camp, Kayla Miller’s sequel to Click, and my 10-year-old is going to be all kinds of grabby when she finds out.  (Her obsession with graphic novels is fierce and unfailing.)  My oldest is likely to read it as well, but the story has my second girlie written all over it; Camp, like Click, is a story about figuring out how to be yourself in a friendship and still be a good friend.  This time around, Olive has gone to sleep-away camp with her friend Willow, and while gregarious, fun-loving Olive is happy to jump into the group activities and be friends with her bunkmates, helicoper-parented (seriously) Willow…isn’t.  In fact, she’s downright hostile to other campers’ overtures of friendship.  This baffled me on a personal level–I wasn’t great at joining groups, but I welcomed people including me in a kind and friendly way–but then, I was never the homesick kid either, so I chalked that up to a total difference in personality.  Olive, of course, soon chafes at Willow’s possessiveness, and both girls struggle before eventually finding their way.

I thought Camp had more depth than its predecessor, although I still think art comes more naturally to Miller than skillfully showing, telling, and pacing a story.  Laura-the-Camp-Counselor’s advice to Olive is excellent, and the resolution is nice, even if it is a bit best-possible-scenario-ish.  If you’ve got an elementary schooler who loves graphic novels, this is an appropriate and enjoyable option.  And even though Miller’s skills still aren’t quite up to Telgemeier’s, they are definitely improving!