Title: Brain Camp
Author: Susan Kim and Laurence Klavan
Illustrator: Faith Erin Hicks
Publisher: First Second (:01)
Copyright: 2010
Price: $16.99
ISBN: 978-1-59643-366-3
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Summary and Quick Thoughts: First a commercial:
Do you have a child who is “underachieving”? Or maybe your child is a “juvenile delinquent”? If you do, you may want to send your child to the exclusive “Camp Fielding: A Summer of Learning and Fun!” Here, your child will not only mature, he or she will shine and make you proud. Act quickly though as this is an invite-only camp. If your child is chosen, Mr. Oswald will visit you, and please be prepared to make your decision then.
Lucas and Jenna are seen as outsiders, underachievers, and failures in their parents’ eyes. Lucas’s mother suspects he’ll just end up in jail like his father. Jenna hasn’t seemed to mature, study, or prepare for an early entry into Yale. When the mysterious Mr. Oswald visits these families on the same night, Lucas and Jenna learn that their lives are about to change.
Once at Camp Fielding, Lucas and Jenna spy each other. They immediately dislike each other, but quickly learn to be allies at this bizarre camp. Something fowl (pun intended) is afoot at Camp Fielding. Lucas and Jenna are replacements for the two campers (who the reader met at the beginning) that left due to “family emergencies.” But, that is not what throws them off. First it is the camp activities, given without instruction. Then, there is the horrible, mushy food. After that, their friends quickly turn into smart zombies. What is even stranger to Lucas and Jenna is what happens at night when students are in a deep slumber and the camp counselors sneak in. Not to mention, the building Lucas and Jenna discover on a trip to sneak out for “real” food. Jenna and Lucas must solve the mystery of Camp Fielding, before it is too late for them.
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Will Teens Like It? It’s most definitely a good teen title. Some teens may find this a good read because of previous camp experiences or the feelings of disappointed parents.
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Things to be aware of: Nothing really.
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Further Thoughts: Lucas and Jenna are both run-of-the-mill fourteen year olds. Lucas is getting into trouble and his mother just doesn’t know what to do any more (although, they live in a poor situation it seems). Jenna is a dreamer, which saddens her PHD parents who want her to be going to Yale already, like their friends’ children. So when Lucas and Jenna are thrown together, it is a surprise, I suspect, to the two characters that they are the only ones who can figure out the mystery. This just adds to how well rounded they are and where they need to grow. Of course, I don’t see how Jenna needs to fill the particular role her parents have given her, but at the same time, the rigors of education and hobbies (as illustrated early in the book) show that she should be living up to it (somehow this sounds familiar…).
The camp is much more than education. For these two teens it is also when they begin puberty as well as learning. To me, this makes the title a perfect fit to teens. The mystery story will appeal to mystery readers and the “Brain Camp” title with creepy smiling faces will appeal to the zombie crowd (seriously, it is just a different kind of zombie).
In a good graphic novel, the story is shown rather than told through the voices. In Brain Camp, the story is told in just the right amount of text and shown with the perfect panels and art. For a mystery, readers can easily pick up the clues that will fit in later and the astute reader will instantly see how everything builds up.
My only qualm is how quickly Jenna gets tricked later in the book. On one hand, I thought how sad, but on the other, at fourteen and lost as to what to do as adults won’t listen to her, I could easily see how she was tricked. This made me realize that, yes, she is only fourteen. It’s a perfect way for the writers to show it.
Overall, a fun title I couldn’t put down until I was finished. It was definitely worth the little bit of hype that I’ve seen for it.
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Bonus: ALA 2011 Great Graphic Novel
Source: Library.
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