children's graphic fiction (tweens at summer camp, homesickness, talking to/opening up to friends and making new ones)
*reviewed from uncorrected ARC*

starring outgoing Olive from "Click" and her homesick bff/cousin Willow. I felt the two girls were bordering on needy/whiny in the way that they spent much of the time feeling sorry for themselves, but this would easily satisfy middlegrade and younger readers who are looking for more graphic novels to consume. ( )

My review of this book can be found on my Youtube Vlog at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I77VHAmCFJ0

Enjoy! ( )

When Olive and Willow go to camp, Willow has a harder time to adjust to being away from home and gets very clingy. Olive is a social person and tries her best to make Willow feel included until she starts monopolizing her time. Of course, this brings about a series of events that make this story very relatable.

lowkey/highkey Willow needed to sit down somewhere. Being afraid and wanting to attach to the only familiar face you see is normal, but she OVERSTEPPED big time telling Olive she can only sit with her, declined someone else asking OLIVE to dance (not you, Willow!), and turned her butt to anyone that wanted to be her friend. I thought she was maybe socially awkward at first, but then it turned into "if I can't have Olive, no one can." On top of that, as soon as Willow gets comfortable at camp, she likes "new phone, who dis" to Olive.

Willow was so irritating hahaha.
Yeah, read this. I love when stories can teach a lesson to kids without being preachy. ( )

Best friends Willow and Olive are going to summer camp for the first time. Willow is having trouble adjusting being away from home and being around so many different people, while Olive is enthusiastic about the activities and meeting the other kids. Willow begins to feel jealous and left out because Olive has easily integrated herself into the camp experience, and Willow just wants it to be her and Olive. Olive feels bad because she doesn’t want Willow to feel bad. The kind of conflict you see in friendships of girls this age where they seem to be moving apart. Entertaining but not deep. Felt conventional to me. A few pedantic scenes. ( )

Olive and Willow are off to summer camp for two weeks, but while Olive makes lots of new friends, Willow clings to Olive - then gets upset whenever Olive wants to do anything with anyone else, even if they try to include Willow. The girls are able to talk it out and have a good time for the last few days of camp - so much so that Willow starts to get "homesick" for her camp friends on the bus home! Olive and Willow are the main characters, but the counselors offer good advice, especially Laura. Olive and Willow appear white, but there's a lot of diversity among the other campers and counselors.

See also: Awkward by Svetlana Chmakova, Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson, Smile and Sisters by Raina Telgemeier ( )