Review by New York Times Review
For these kids, friendship is the hardest test of all. But mastering its mysterious codes is worth it. MIDDLE SCHOOL IS FRAUGHT with shifting dynamics. As tweens drift away from adults, they find themselves in the thorny world of friendship, with its ever-changing loyalties, mysterious codes of conduct, and complicated social structure. Middlegrade literature has become increasingly sophisticated in recent years, but even among all the new genres, titles and characters, one element is forever universal: the power of friendship, for better and worse. In these graphic novels, the main characters have no trouble making new friends. They're just not sure about the ones they already have. RYAN ANDREWS'S THIS WAS OUR PACT (FIRST SECOND, $14.99, AGES 8 TO 12) takes US to a nameless town's Autumn Equinox Festival, when everyone gathers to release paper lanterns in the river. According to legend, the lanterns soar into the Milky Way and become stars once they sail out of sight. Ben, stubborn and determined, makes a pact with his friends to follow the lanterns until they know whether that's the truth. The pact has two simple rules: No one turns for home and no one looks back. With this bond in place, the five boys set off on their bikes. But there's a sixth wheel they hadn't counted on. He's pedaling behind them, asking them to wait. Nerd alert: It's Nathaniel - uncool, pesky, with a bag of homemade Rice Krispies Treats from his mother. "It's not that I didn't like Nathaniel," Ben tells the reader. "It's more that, well... no one else did." Unfortunately for Ben, his pact-mates drop like flies until only Nathaniel remains. Kindhearted Nathaniel takes the pact seriously - despite not having been originally included - and promises Ben he will see it through. Once Nathaniel and Ben are on their own, the story truly becomes magical, both in narration and creative execution. The first order of magical business comes in the form of a talking bear, dressed in a winter coat and scarf, who explains that he's searching for a legendary fishing spot that appears only once a year. This sets off a series of enchanted discoveries that stretch the imagination in wondrous ways. The novel's cover shows Ben looking over his shoulder, making eye contact, inviting readers along for the ride. The subsequent artwork and narrative are worthy catalysts to fulfill that promise. The color scheme, with a limited palette of mainly blues, pulls readers into the abounding nighttime magic. The relationship between Nathaniel and Ben provides the true heartbeat of the novel. Left uninhibited, Nathaniel shines as the more charismatic, adventurous and likable of the two. He's unfazed by his "nerd alert" status and chooses to embrace new discoveries with open arms - a stark contrast to Ben, who becomes a killjoy once he's separated from his pack. Ben soon discovers that he has much to learn from Nathaniel. Readers do, too. in contrast to Andrews's magic-brimming adventure, Kayla Miller's camp (HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT, $10.99, AGES 8 to 12) takes us into a familiar scene deeply grounded in reality. Best friends Olive and Willow are eager for two weeks of summer camp. All goes smoothly at first. The girls want to participate in all the activities together, despite having few things in common. Olive is athletic, active and outgoing. Willow is quiet and shy. So they make a compromise: Olive will sacrifice skateboarding to take magic class with Willow, and Willow will try softball and moviemaking. Soon, however, Olive finds herself making more and more compromises to appease homesick Willow, who shuns the friendly overtures of other campers and prefers to settle under Olive's comfortable shadow. Olive is smothered yet sympathetic as she struggles to make Willow happy. As with any codependent relationship, however, this does not work. "It's really nice that you're trying to be there for your friend, but Willow's happiness is not your responsibility," says Laura, a camp counselor. "If you're making yourself miserable trying to cheer her up, that's just solving a problem by creating a new one, isn't it?" Although summer camp and wayward friendships are nothing new on the middlegrade scene, Miller tells a story that isn't often told - that of an overbearing friendship that threatens to develop into codependency. Tweens are well-served to have this dynamic represented in "Camp," particularly through the character of Laura, who provides a refreshing voice of reason without being overly pedantic, condescending or intrusive. Tweens will also benefit from Miller's playful and communicative artwork, featuring a cast with varied ethnic backgrounds and gender expressions. At more than 300 pages, "This Was Our Pact" is the weightier of the two and has a narrative that allows for more visual wiggle room, including several astonishing two-page images. "Camp" offers a more traditional comics approach, but includes enjoyable and useful supplemental material in its end pages, such as character sketches, instructions on how to make friendship bracelets and a map of Camp Acorn Lake. Both of these graphic novels offer an original and much-needed view of the complex world of middle-school friendships. The social landscape for this age group is dotted with quicksand, and young people need books like these to pull them through. Whether that's done with some magic or a story that sticks to reality is simply a matter of preference. ERIN ENTRADA KELLY IS the author of books for young readers including the Newbery Medalwinning "Hello, Universe" and, most recently, "You Go First."
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [June 9, 2019]
Review by Booklist Review
A group of boys on bikes sets out to learn whether the lanterns cast down the river in their town's annual ceremony actually turn into stars like the legends say. The titular pact: no turning back from their quest. Who ends up breaking the pact and who doesn't is only one element of this richly imagined and complexly emotional story that would be spoiled by too thorough a plot summary, though the story's power rests less in surprise than in the moment-to-moment unfolding of the journey. Andrews visualizes his concept with a tone and texture that produces an unassuming but profound strangeness: A telephone on top of a boulder in the middle of a stream? All the constellations in the sky interpreted by a talking bear? This embeds the fantasy in an earthy, handcrafted reality, apparent right up to its rough panel borders. It also empathizes with its relatable protagonists cautious white Ben and guileless, brave, dark-skinned Nathaniel in a deep way, understanding that being annoying is often the result of reaching out and that being an asshole often stems from fear. It may owe some of its eerie melancholy and occasional menacing absurdity to the likes of Lewis Carroll and Shaun Tan, but its message is distinctly its own: What you imagine to be the end of the journey may be satisfying, but the adventure actually goes on as long as you keep riding down the road.--Jesse Karp Copyright 2019 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Creepy yet benign, this leisurely graphic novel opens on the autumn equinox, when a community sends paper lanterns down a river. Five boys and a bullied tagalong science fanatic named Nathaniel make a pact to find out where the lanterns go. They pedal their bikes along a deserted road, but the vow proves daunting, and Nathaniel and the narrator, Ben, are soon alone on a bridge at the edge of town. They pledge to soldier on, unaware of a hulking shadow creature that rises from the river below. Ben approaches their subsequent adventures with trepidation, while Nathaniel greets every vertiginous cliff and bottomless lake with a gleeful grin. They take up with a fellow traveler, a stylish anthropomorphic bear who seeks to catch the floating lights, which are rumored to turn into fish en route to the stars. Andrews (Nothing Is Forgotten for adults) crafts a phantasmagoria of events that recall animation from Studio Ghibli and Cartoon Saloon. Scenes unfold beneath the Milky Way in twilit dark-blue and charcoal-gray panels, while flashbacks and industrial interiors in glowing ember hues amplify a simmering sense of threat. Picaresque episodes and a dreamlike resolution conjure a giddy sensation, like staying up all night. Ages 10-14. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4--7--Each year, during the Autumn Equinox Festival, the townsfolk release lanterns into the nearby river in honor of a local folk song. And every year, a group of boys ride their bikes along the river to follow the lanterns, always stopping partway through. This year, they make a pact to follow the lanterns for as long as possible and discover where they go. But one by one, each rider turns back until the only ones left are narrator Ben and perpetual tag-along Nathaniel. The two boys discover wonders around them: an anthropomorphized bear, a potion maker, and more. This is a charming read, thanks to adventurous Nathaniel, who remains steadfast and self-assured despite enduring verbal bullying from the other boys, in contrast to insecure, timid Ben. The palette is dominated by an inky, navy blue sky infused with ethereal blue stars, occasionally interrupted by vibrant, warm hues. Imprecise linework mirrors the fluidity of the book's reality, and Ben has a Harry Potter--like appearance. VERDICT For readers who want an escapist fantasy with a light touch. Hand this title to fans of whimsical or unpredictable adventures such as Neil Gaiman's Fortunately, the Milk or Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time.--Alea Perez, Westmont Public Library, IL
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Hundreds of paper lanterns are set afloat on the night of the Autumn Equinox Festival, and narrator Ben and four pals vow to follow them on bicycles to discover where they go. But one by one the kids renege on their pact and turn back, leaving Ben alone on Toad Canyon Bridge, "the barrier that all our parents made us promise never to cross." Ben is soon joined by tagalong Nathaniel, an astronomy buff who'd been trailing the group. Ben grumpily allows Nathaniel to accompany him: "It's not that I didn't LIKE Nathaniel. It's more that, well...no one ELSE did." Behind the two boys looms a shadowy creature with glowing saucers for eyes. This creature-never seen by the boys-is strange, but not particularly frightening, and it hints at the unusual surprises in store in a graphic novel that starts as straightforward realism. Sure enough, after the first page-turn in chapter two, a new character is introduced: a talking bear whom Nathaniel immediately befriends. Magical adventures ensue, as the boys also meet a grouchy potion-brewer, a map-making crow, and other supernatural animals and beings. Throughout Andrews's panel illustrations, blue hues dominate the outdoor scenes and jewel tones saturate his interior settings. An enthralling tale of friendship, determination, and wonder. Tanya D. Auger November/December 2019 p.83(c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Two reluctant friendsand a talking bearjourney deep into the night in search of answers. The night of the annual Autumn Equinox Festival unfolds as the villagers cast hundreds of lanterns down the river in honor of a local folk legend. For Ben, this year will be different from the rest. He and his friends make a pact to follow the lanterns until the unknown end of their voyage. One by one Ben's friends give up and return home, all except for Nathaniel, whose love for the cosmos and nerdy ways ostracize him from the group. In spite of his misgivings, Ben decides to uphold the pact with Nathaniel. A third, unexpected member joins the adventure when the boys come across a talking fisherbear who's on a quest to fish as his ancestors did. The trio eventually loses track of the path, and an unplanned encounter with the feisty Madam Majestic leads to even greater escapades. To shed more light on the story risks spoiling Andrews' marvelously melancholic, earnest graphic novel, at its core an exercise in whimsical self-reflection. This story's a quiet one in which danger flickers and hope flares at odd but fruitful moments. The core relationship between Ben (a dark-haired, light-skinned, bespectacled boy) and Nathaniel (a dark-skinned boy with puffs of hair) never veers into pure mawkishness. Likewise, the primarily blue and red mixed-media pictures underscore how nighttime sometimes promises transformation.Brilliantly enchanting. (Graphic fabulism. 10-14) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
