Claire and Michelle may be sisters, but it's hard for them to find anything in common anymore. Claire is proud of her Taiwanese culture, but Michelle wants to distance herself from it as much as she can and it's causing a rift. When Claire decides to head to a Taiwanese American camp for the summer, their parents decide both girls will go to hopefully fix the rift between them.

Ultimately, as both sisters learn more about their selves, their sister, and their culture, they'll have to decide what identities to share in this heartwarming graphic novel.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel! Unhappy camper features lots of themes that middle grader readers can connect with including sibling relationships and unhealthy friendships. It was great to watch Michelle learn about and grow to love her culture. Recommended for middle grade collections.

From the acclaimed creators of Measuring Up , author Lily LaMotte and illustrators Ann Xu and Sunmi, comes a graphic novel about two sisters—one who embraces her Taiwanese culture and one eager to do away with it—who rebuild their bond at a Taiwanese American summer camp.

This was really well done! I loved the art and the story felt very sincere.

This fantastic graphic novel realistically shows a sibling relationship as well as a diaspora kid learning about their culture- many topics for young readers to connect with! Highly recommend.

Thank you to the author and the publisher for providing me a copy of "Unhappy Camper" through Netgalley!

I really enjoyed Lily LaMotte's other graphic novel, "Measuring Up", so I was excited to get a chance to read her newest.
The themes of sisterhood, and its ups and downs, as well as staying true to yourself, are some I think that many readers will be able to relate to. Michelle will do anything to fit in with the "it" girls at her school and grade, even if it means denying her Taiwanese culture and heritage. At Taiwanese summer camp, Michelle learns to love her heritage, and learns to embrace her culture more and more.
"Unhappy Camper" is a spectacular graphic novel that shows the power of owning and loving your true self, and what it means to assimilate into what others think you need to do to fit in and be popular. Middle School especially is a time of ups and downs, where everyone is trying to figure out who they are, and what makes them unique. I am sure readers who are in Middle Grade will find themes and parts of Claire and Michelle's stories within this graphic novel that they can relate to.

Lily LaMotte packs so much emotion and conflict into her wonderfully illustrated graphic novels. Unhappy Camper is no exception. This is the story of two sisters who feel very different about their Taiwanese heritage. The older sister wants to learn as much as she can about the language and attends a Taiwanese summer camp where she will be a counselor. The younger sister wants to assimilate into American culture with the popular kids, even if they are not as accepting as she wants them to be.

She is reluctantly sent to Taiwanese summer camp, and through new friendships and experience that stretch her skills, she begins to see what is really important to her, and who her true friends are.

I love that this book is so relatable for any child no matter their culture, and the growth that both girls experience is so positive. This was such a fun graphic novel to read!

I loved Measuring Up and this is a great follow up. It's a thoughtful examination of how kids interact with their heritage and culture while growing up in the US. It gives weight to what it's like to have your family relationships and your sense of self evolve as you get older and how those don't go in a straight line, Michelle grows away from her sister but they find their way back to each other. Kids will also identify with Michelle's struggle with wanting to win friends but feeling like she has to compromise herself in doing so. All wrapped up in charming characters and fun plot points.

A hilarious and emotional follow up to Measuring Up! Loved all the humor in this book - laughed out loud multiple times - and learned so much from the cultural aspects of the story. Can't wait to read what Lily LaMotte and Ann Xu create next!!

‘Unhappy Camper’ by Lily LaMotte with art by Ann Xu and Sunmi is a graphic novel about a young girl trying to fit in to her new culture and the embarrassment her old culture causes her.

Michelle and Claire are Taiwanese sisters living in Seattle. Claire is proud of who she is, but Michelle wants to fit in with the popular crowd. When Michelle’s parents send her to a Taiwanese American summer camp with her sister, it feels like social death, especially since her sister is going and they haven’t gotten along for years. Days of learning language and cultural studies leave Michelle missing her friends at home, but are they really her friends and can she ever be close to Claire again?

I really liked this story of identity and siblings. The story has broad appeal, but may appeal most to immigrant children. The lessons are strong as is the art.

Great middle grades graphic novel that deals with cultural identity, peer pressure, and bullying. Michelle navigates the complexities of family and friendship while also learning to embrace her cultural identity as a Taiwanese American.

My only critique is that I wanted to know a little bit more about Michelle's parents and how they either facilitated or hindered her struggle with identity. They seemed mysterious to me in that I could not tell if they were first, second, third gen immigrants.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC.

Michelle and her big sister Claire used to be close, but now they couldn't be further apart. The sisters, who live in Seattle, are Taiwanese American. To Michelle, that's just one more thing that makes her different from the other girls in her class. But Claire is excited about their cultural heritage and loves to attend a cultural summer camp for other Taiwanese American kids - and then come home and brag about the Taiwanese she learns. This summer, their parents decide that since Claire will be a junior camp counselor, its only fair that Michelle get to go to camp too -- the last place she wants to be. Specifically, Michelle wants to spend time with the popular (but kind of mean girls) in her choir in the hopes to become their friend.

This is a solid graphic novel that will have no trouble finding an audience. Fans of Stargazing, Sisters, Be Prepared, or, of course, Sisters will like this book. The pair from Measuring Up deliver another good mix of text and image that explores the feeling of disconnection from cultural identity. I did think there were a few spots where the story felt disjointed -- almost like panels were in the wrong spot -- hopefully that will be corrected before a final version.

I'm always looking to expand my classroom library and will be adding "Unhappy Camper" by Lily LaMotte. The graphic novel explores the complex relationship between two sisters, Claire and Michelle, who are sent to a Taiwanese American summer camp. The story explores theme of cultural identity as Michelle grapples with the choice between embracing her Taiwanese heritage or conforming to societal expectations to fit-in. Lily LaMotte has written a compelling story of self-discovery and familial bonds.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Alley for the ARC.

This was a really cute story about a young girl begrudgingly coming to terms with her Taiwanese heritage and identity. I really liked the art style.

Compelling graphic novel about embracing or distancing oneself from their cultural heritage. One sister fully embraces her Taiwanese heritage, while the other wants to assimilate into a popular group at school that can be insensitive to her heritage. When a bullying incident occurs, will the sister choose her popular “friends” or support her older sister?

I loved the sibling relationship between Claire and Michelle. It felt realistic and the development over the course of the book was engaging. Claire's gradual transition from embarrassment to curiosity to acceptance and pride for her Taiwanese heritage was well-paced and believable. This is an excellent book for anyone student who feels like their heritage makes them stick out or who feels empathy and curiosity about a different cultural tradition.

This is a very strong story highlighting the "in-between" feeling that if not endemic to non-white children but takes a unique form in kids whose cultural experiences serve to set them apart from the mainstream at school. It's no "Parachute Kids" (from 2023, which is easily the most memorable Taiwanese-American story of 2023), but it does explore relevant components of Asian-American identity.

Perfect for fans of Sisters and Be Prepared.
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Claire and Michelle grew up close, loving to play to with dolls, but as they’ve gotten older one sister has embraced her Taiwanese roots, while the other is trying to distance herself from it. Claire becomes a junior counselor at a Taiwanese American summer camp and Michelle is trying to get into popular restaurants with her friends. When their parents sense a shift between the girls, they end up sending them both to camp where they see things from each other’s perspective.
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This was a sweet and poignant MG book that will grab readers’ attention with the artwork and relatable storyline. So many kids can relate to sibling rifts. This graphic novel releases April 23!

CW: race issues, microaggressions

This fun new graphic novel is about Michelle, who wants to be besties with the girls at her school. Except that the girls at her school don't appreciate the fact that Michelle's cultural heritage is Taiwanese. When Claire, Michelle's sister gets chosen to be a junior counselor at a Taiwanese summer camp, Michelle's parents decide that Michelle should go too, so that Michelle and Claire can bond. Michelle really wants to stay home and spend time with her friends, but when she gets to camp, she finds out it's better than she imagined. This is a fun story to read-similar to books like Smile by Raina Telgemeir and the Baby Sitter Club graphic novels. Readers will recognize the characters as people they know and the situations that they are in. Kids are going to like this one a lot.

Making friends can be hard for teens, but knowing who your true friends are can be even harder. Lily LaMotte captures the challenges of friendship, cultural identity, and coming-of-age beautifully in Unhappy Camper. This is definitely a must-have for any middle school library!

* reviewed from uncorrected eARC via netgalley *

children's middlegrade graphic fiction - Though her older sister Claire has always been proud of her Taiwanese roots, middleschooler Michelle prefers to try to blend in with the white popular girls at her Seattle school. To Michelle's dismay, her parents decide to send her to Taiwanese-American camp where Claire has been hired as a junior counselor for three weeks at the end of summer.

Michelle spends 95% of the book being uncomfortable and/or miserably regretful, making this story quite a bit more serious (and less funny?) than Be Prepared or Sisters, though those stories do share some similarities. I did find Michelle's situation relatable and I enjoyed learning a little bit about Taiwanese language and food; I'm sure that plenty of kids out there will also relate, though Unhappy Camper may not quite reach "mainstream" popularity.

See also: Betty Tang's Parachute Kids.