Sheets is a comic that tells the stories of both Marjorie and Wendell.
Marjorie is thirteen and in charge of the family laundry business. See, her dad is not really there anymore, not since her mom died and she has to take care of the business and of her little brother.
Wendell is a ghost, and he doesn’t get along with the other kid ghosts. So he runs away and somehow ends up in Marjorie’s shop…

Sheets was a cute story but it was also very touching.
I had a very good time reading it. It was a fast read but I still felt a lot.
The characters were interesting and pretty deep.
I even teared up a little.
I wish there was more...

<p>A sweet, predictable, read about a grieving girl running a laundromat. There's an evil fat (literally) cat property developer wanting to buy the laundromat and kick out the family. Will the girl with the help of her ghostly friends save everything in time?</p>

<p><b>Spoiler</b>: I said it was predictable, so yes, obviously they will. Everything works out in the end. I wish the real world were as ultimately karmic as here. Really, that's what makes me saddest about the story -- just how in the real world, being sweet and kind may not mean you win at the end of the day.</p>

<p>In any case, my nine year old read <A href="https://www.librarything.com/work/21625069/book/156426500">Sheets</a> about thirty times in a row. For about a month, it was always the last thing opened on my reading app because she would just read it from start to finish again and again and again. I hope she absorbed some of the message and turns out to be sweet and kind too.</p>

<p><A href="https://www.librarything.com/work/21625069/book/156426500">Sheets</a> by Brenna Thummler went on sale August 28, 2018.</p>

<p><small>I received a copy free from <a href="https://www.netgalley.com/">Netgalley</a> in exchange for an honest review.</small></p>

Sheets-I have a relationship with Sheets myself. The smell of freshly washed sheets hung outside on a clothesline reminds me of laundry days with my mother. The art work is vibrant. The characters lovable. Heart warming story.
I so enjoyed this graphic by Thumler. #Sheets #netgalley #BrennaThumler

‘Sheets’: Ghosts and Visitations in Graphic Novel Form
Posted on August 25, 2018 by Mariana Ruiz • 0 Comments
Reading Time: 3 minutes
This graphic novel mixes cuteness with haunting, but it goes deeper than you’d think.

Writer and Artist: Brenna Thummler
Marjorie Glatt is full of ghosts: sadness and grief are the overwhelming first two, but there are also other types of beings haunting her.

After her mother dies, she is in charge of the family laundry business. Her father is so depressed he can barely stand up, and her toddler brother is what keeps her going, even if all of that is a bit too much for a thirteen-year-old.



Also, there is Mr. Saubertuck, a weird and annoying fat man who wants her house and that harasses her in every possible way. He is a bit of a loony and could be deemed harmless, but when you are as alone as Marjorie is, “harmless” is not what it used to be.



Now, on another dimension but in the same physical spot, there’s Wendell: he is a ghost, recently deceased. He is new to Ghost Town and is unable to adjust, so, one day, he decides to land on Marjorie’s laundry.



Ghost Town is what hit the spot for me: all of the ghosts are covered in sheets, they have a council, high school cliques, and even a death therapist; they are a society on their own, but somebody can feel lonely even there. I liked that.



I also liked the unlikely friendship Marjorie and Wendell develop. I think it works as a metaphor for sadness and empathy, for despair and bad feelings, for the way things can brighten up if only you can share these feelings with someone else—even if that someone is dead.

The visuals work perfectly. There are lots of double spreads that reflect how tiny one can feel in an unsympathetic world. But they always have a glimmer of hope, even in the darkest panels. I liked that too—very much.

Sheets is on sale August 28th, 2018.

Publisher: Diamond Book Distributors/ Lion Forge
Publication Date: August 28, 2018
Edition: Paperback
Price: $12.99 (USD)
Age range: 14
ISBN 9781941302675
Genre: Comics & Graphic Novels, Sci Fi & Fantasy

Featured image by Brenna Thummler, all images belong Diamond Book Distributors

One of my pet peeves is adults not taking care of kids, so I found this book hard to read. Marjorie feels like no one is on her side and she is totally right. That is distressing. Things work out but only because she finds help from an unexpected source. Loved the drawings, but found the story depressing.

A very charming and heartwarming graphic novel about a young girl dealing with grief, "Sheets" was the healing from grief through a child's eyes and I loved it. Marjorie as the main character really took you by the hand and led you through her story, and the introduction of ghosts was entirely whimsical and so much fun. Overall, this was a great read that I deeply enjoyed!

I adore the vivid pastel color palette with all the pinks, purples, and turquoise greens. Its a stark contrast from its melancholy story of a girl named Marjorie Glatts who's dealing with the death of her mother, her despondent father, bullies of both the high school mean girl and creepy old guy variety, as well as keeping her late mother's beloved laundromat afloat. Wendell is a ghost who's struggling to fit in his world which leads him to venturing into the Glatts' laundromat. I was expecting a cute fluffy ghost story but this was a bit heavier than I hoped for. Wendell's kindness and innocence was a saving grace though.

*I was provided a digital copy of this graphic novel via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

To be fair, this was most likely labelled as a Young Adult graphic novel, and therefore I may not have been the target reader. It certainly has not appealed to me in any way. The story feels clichéd: teenager loses her mother and is forced to carry on with the family business and mostly every other chore since her father, as self-pitious as can be, won't take care of either her or her little brother..
Parallel to that story, there's a a ghost town (as in a town where ghosts go after they die), from where the other main character flees back into the world of the living only to involuntarily make our protagonist's life a bit more miserable. The fact she works in a laundry and that ghosts are seen as floating sheets is perhaps all too convenient, which again may be suitable for Young Adult target reader but to me felt like a cheap trick.
Other people in the story, like the antagonist businessman, are nothing but cardboard characters, and their design, especially the faces, I think could be improved.
The background drawings, though, I found impressive.

Marjorie Glatt has a lot on her plate. School, taking care of her brother, running the family laundry business, sleazy businessmen, and ghosts. She definitely doesn’t have time for ghosts.
After the death of her mother, Marjorie’s father shut down and began drinking away his grief. If the family is to stay afloat, Marjorie has to become the sole employee of the family laundry. With her business constantly threatened by a shady businessman, Marjorie is at the breaking point and the last thing she needs is a ghost named Wendell and his unsuccessful attempts to help her. The artwork is soft and I really like the limited color palette. Sheets is a bittersweet story of loss, grief, and perseverance.

I loved the artwork in this one! The story is cute, but also sad at times since the main character deals with tough things in her life. I really enjoyed this one :)

This is a story about a girl coping with the loss of her mom and trying to run her family’s laundromat. An unlikely friendship occurs between the girl and a ghost. This book was illustrated beautifully with bright colors. I found the story very endearing and even cried toward the end. I’ll recommend this to teens for sure.

Loved the artwork, but the story was meh....

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book, which I voluntarily chose to review.

In "Sheets" we follow the story of Marjorie, a young girl running the family's laundry business and Wendell, a ghost.

This book was honestly so heartwarming. The artwork is incredible and even though the plot may be seen as kind of childish and also a bit slow, it's still amazing. The book also deals with depression, bullying, losing someone close to you, determination and a lot of things most of us can relate. Also, this beauty got me out of a huge reading slump and I absolutely adored it for it.

Sheets by Brenna Thummler is a very charming graphic novel. The aspect I love most about Sheets is the art, it is incredible. I love Thummler's style, it's what makes the world and the characters feel alive. Every scene is full of details and all the colours complement each other so nicely. As someone who creates art, I can tell how much time and effort when into every single frame and scene in this graphic novel. The story is not very complex, but it was simple and endearing. Though at times I would say the story was a bit to cliché for my liking. Sometimes the characters seemed a bit flat, which is a by-product of the story sometimes being a bit cliché. Nonetheless, I do recommend this graphic novel and will definitely read Thummler's future works.

Marjorie is a lonely young teen. She has recently lost her mother, her father is depressed, and Marjorie has found herself in charge of the family laundry business. Wendell is a ghost. He died as a boy, and is adjusting to his new sheet-dependent afterlife. When they unexpectedly encounter one another, Marjorie and Wendell form an unlikely friendship.

The story starts slow as it introduces Marjorie. When Wendell is introduced, the story picks up a little more. For one, the whole ghosts wearing sheets is a humorous touch. However, both Marjorie and Wendell have sad stories of loneliness. When Marjorie and Wendell first encounter one another, the story gets more interesting.

The artwork in this graphic novel is great. I especially enjoyed the the color palette.

A sweet story about loneliness and grief. Lovely, enchanting, and heartbreaking.

I received a free eARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The art was meh. The storytelling felt like one big cliche. I got through the first third before begging my kids to let me quit. They didn't have any objections.

How can I review this without too many spoilers? Two different worlds converge to save each other in a wonderfully inventive storyline

Marjorie is struggling. She's trying to juggle school, PE, taking care of her little brother and running the family laundry mat after her mom died the previous spring and her dad completely shut down. She's got a lot on her plate, and that's before mean Mr. Saubertuck begins pressuring her to sell the business so he can open up his extravagant five-star yoga and spa retreat (and have her and her father work as low-paid employees cleaning towels)—and a ghost decides to settle into the laundry mat and upend everything.

It took about 150 pages to really get into this graphic novel, which is saying something because it's only 240 pages long. There are two storylines: Marjorie, who comes off as disconnected, isolated and more tell than show, and Wendell, who is a ghost and an A+ liar. The story only takes off when Marjorie and Wendell meet and things begin to go sideways fast.

Marjorie and Wendell took a while to grow on me, mostly because both were so closed off in their own ways. Really, the only people who I really enjoyed was the hilarious cha-cha-sliding swim teacher Mr. Duncan and his empathetic, no-nonsense wife.

However, the ending is cute, the illustrations are absolutely gorgeous and inventive (particularly with Wendell's more extravagant stories), and there is a cute "scary-story" blanket fort scene. It also deals with death of a close family member, grief and moving on.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

Kids (4th-6th grades) are going to love this light-hearted, spooky graphic novel about unlikely friendships, and where the bad guys go down. Just in time for Fall! Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

First Lines:

It’s difficult to list, in order, the things I hate. But I can say with no uncertainty that laundry and ghosts are currently tied for first, p.7.

After Marjorie Glatt’s mother dies, the family’s dry cleaning business falls to her young shoulders. Each day she has to complete orders, take new orders, go to school, watch her little brother, and make sure her despondent step-father is eating. With so many responsibilities it’s no surprise the business is failing. At the same time Wendall, a ghost who struggles to fit in with the other ghosts in ghost land, ventures to the restricted realm of the living. Find out what happens when Wendall, the sheet wearing ghost, winds up at Marjorie’s dry cleaner.

What Dazzled: The artwork is spectacular. Thummler uses a modern pastel color palette for Marjorie's story which contrasts perfectly with Wendell’s blue-gray palette. There’s full-page bleeds and so many intricate details, like Marjorie’s feet reflected in the clean store floor, that makes you slow down and linger. The atmosphere Thummler creates transports readers to corn mazes, leaf-strewn sidewalks, and abandoned houses.

What Fizzled: The story, while overall captivating, had a few blemishes. I’m curious if kids will find it strange like I did that customers were walking into the dry cleaners after hours or going where only employees should be allowed. Will they be bothered that Marjorie never called the police on Mr. Saubertuck? And how did Mr. Saubertuck get his hands on a can of ghost repellent? These would be some great questions to try and answer kids.

Jots and Thoughts: I can’t wait to see what Thummler creates next.

Sheets is a heartwarming graphic novel about the unusual friendship between a grieving girl and a lonely ghost boy.

Marjorie’s mother is dead and her father is so depressed that he barely leaves his bedroom to eat. The family’s laundry is run before and after school by Marjorie. The mysterious Nigel is trying to convince Marjorie to give up the laundry’s lease so he can open a yoga studio and spa.

In the meantime, Wendell lives in Ghost Town. At 11, he is having trouble making friends. He decides to ride a train out of town and ends up in Marjorie’s town. When they meet, their adventures begin.

Sheets is perfect for young and middle school readers. The words are scarce and the pretty pastel pictures tell much of the story. The moral is nice and doesn’t seem forced. 3 stars.

Thanks to the publisher, Lion Forge, and NetGalley for an advanced copy.