School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-7-Skye's parents are divorced, and quality time with either parent is hard to come by. When Skye gets kicked to summer camp because her parents don't know what to do with her, she's determined to have a miserable time just to spite them. Somehow she gets shoved onto the wrong bus and winds up at Camp Midnight, where everyone else-except maybe fellow camper and possible friend Mia-is a monster. What's a normal human to do? She decides to bluff and bluster her way into hiding in plain sight and does her best to fit in but eventually learns that it's always best just to be yourself. Skye's character is spunky and totally believable, and her facial expressions are priceless. The other campers are weird and funny-hugely exaggerated and drawn with a wild and crazy art style employing just a few lurid colors, which works wonderfully to evoke the mood of every camp situation. The feelings and thoughts of all the campers are perfectly portrayed through amusing variations of face and body language, making extraneous dialogue completely unnecessary, which in turn makes the book very accessible and enjoyable for a wide range of readers. VERDICT Seagle, creator of the Ben 10 TV show and the film Big Hero 6, offers a graphic novel that perfectly blends the creepy with the humorous. Hand this to readers who enjoyed R.L. Stine's Slappy's Tales of Horror (Goosebumps Graphix, 2015).-Kelley Gile, Cheshire Public Library, CT © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Seagle (It's a Bird) and New Yorker cartoonist Katzenstein deliver a devilishly fun summer camp story. Their surly heroine, Skye, is furious when her father and wicked-seeming stepmother ship her off to camp while her mother is in Rwanda with Doctors Without Borders. In the rush to get on the bus, Skye winds up bound for Camp Midnight, where she soon realizes that she is out of her element in more ways than one: the campers and staffers are actually witches, werewolves, medusas, and other terrifying beasties. Katzenstein plays lurid shades of chartreuse, teal, crimson, and other ultra-saturated colors against each other to deliciously unsettling effect. Combined with his frenetic linework, checkerboard halftone shading, and intensely exaggerated cartooning, the resulting panels feel like an off-kilter storyboard for the unfolding horror-movie-esque adventure. And while this camp's activities don't start until long after the sun has set, experiences like learning to be true to oneself, making friends, fitting in, and having a first kiss turn out to be pretty universal. "I got kissed by a boy!" Skye gushes late in the story. "Or was I licked by a wolf...?" Ages 9-12. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Skye's looking forward to spending some time with her dad (but not her new stepmom) over the summer, so when she's shuttled off to camp shortly after her arrival, she's more than a little bit peeved. Once she realizes she's been sent to the wrong camp a camp for monsters, no less! she's positively terrified. Luckily, she finds a friend in mysterious Mia; catches the eye of a cute boy (er, werewolf); and the camp director turns out to be less of a witch than she thought (though she's still technically a witch). Though the story is a touch predictable, what Seagle and Katzenstein lack in narrative tension they make up for with bright, zany artwork and cartoonish slapstick humor. In loose, doodling lines and pop-art palettes, Katzenstein's artwork perfectly complements the characters' outsize moods and reactions. A couple of tidy lessons about being true to oneself and not stereotyping monsters add some depth, and an unsolved mystery hints at a sequel. Hand to comics fans looking for lighthearted parody and dark humor.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2016 Booklist
