This reminds me of stories I used to love as a kid. The characters were lovable and fun to read about. The illustrations were incredible, I some of them I'd even buy as paintings.

My first real foray into graphic novels, and one that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Swamp: A Summer in the Bayou is the story of two friends, Otis and Red, and the events of a summer that change them. A bit of a coming of age tale, this also deals with issues of race and class. In the 1930s American South, Otis, who is black, and Red's, who is white, friendship is frowned upon by both their communities and we see how events conspire to drive them apart.

This was billed as an adult novel but read more like a middle grade. It deals with serious subjects but in a way that wouldn't be too disturbing. I found it very moving, but it also had me laughing aloud at some points. The author said in his afterward that he was inspired by Mark Twain's novels Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, and I definitely felt the tone was reminiscent of those books.

I really liked the artwork as well. As I say, this is really my first graphic novel, so I'm not sure how to compare it, but it looked like colour pencil sketches that had some lovely details.

I'm not sure whether there will be a sequel but the story was left a little open in some ways. I'd definitely read more from this author. I recommend Swamp and if you aren't sure about graphic novels this seems like a good way to try them out.

I'd like to thank the publishers and Netgalley for kindly providing me with an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

As someone who grew up and still lives in the deep south, this story was accurate in many cultural way, particularly dialect.

This tells of an unusual friendship for the time, between a white and black boy, in the deep south (I understood it for being Louisiana, Mississippi, or maybe East Texas. These two boys spend their time adventuring the bayou together, however when a man winds up murdered from Otis' neighborhood, he fears playing with Red due to the dangers of angering the white people in town. They become friends with a city girl Shelley from the North who is vacationing there for the summer.

This book touches on friendship and the impacts of racism during this time. Many moments of this novel left my heart aching due to the subject matter that is deeply connected to our region. This novel covers these topics in a way that cuts to the heart of the injustice. The artwork depicts the beautiful carefree childhood these two boys deserve, against the themes and content so dark in comparison. I believe this in a way is a coming of age tale set in the south like the classics that inspired the author.

I give this 5 stars because it truly made me feel something. I wish that I could save these boys from that time, despite things not being perfect now either.