Such a cute book! I struggle to find books around Halloween time for my younger readers who want just a bit of spookiness and this is my new go to! I also loved all of the mystical creatures and fun additions. Also, bonus points for a deaf main character. I loved it!

This is so good and so fun! First, we have a protagonist who is partially deaf and uses hearing aids which is awesome! Then we add the fun of a summer camp filled with ghouls, goblins, and assorted magical creatures in a fun adventure. It is sure to be a big hit with middle-grade readers.

I would say, I did enjoy this book way much more than I expected.

The premise is really interesting as well as the execution of the plot. The thrill and the suspense that were utilized well as the story move forward.

I also would like to add the enticing art style that really did caught my eye.

Juvenile graphic novels are really popular at my library and I think this would circulate well. It was a fun story with a bit of a scare, but not too much for kids. I will suggest this to library patrons.

This was a great Middle Grade Graphic Novel that I would definitely recommend to anyone who thinks it sounds interesting!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

Not your typical camp story! As a longtime fan of Goosebumps, I found myself drawn to this spooky tale and I think other Goosebumps fans will too!

I loved this graphic novel.
Grine manages to capture the perfect balance of mystery, paranormal and relationships.
The art style is nice and clean.

I can't wait to read more

This graphic novel had me hooked that I finished it in one sitting. This story reminded me a bit of the TV show Gravity Falls, so if you're a fan of the mystic and paranormal, this is for you.

Willow and her family move to Nowhere and her parents send her to Camp...Whatever while they unpack their house. I thoroughly enjoyed all the world building of this story as this made summer camp sound way more fun than the summer camps I went to in real life. I also really appreciated the fact that the main character, Willow, is hard of hearing and the use of sign language was present throughout the novel. The stone gnomes were probably my favorite part of this story.

Can't wait to read the additional stories in this universe.

Eleven year old Willow’s family are moving to a new town and it just seems plain weird. As a way to get to know some of the local children, her parents send her to the bizarre summer camp that her dad used to go to. Puzzling and spooky happenings soon arise and Willow becomes embroiled in a mystery like no other. She has to deal with bigfoot, talking gnomes and fantastical creatures beyond her imagination.

I really enjoyed this light and fun graphic novel. The story took a little bit of time to get started, but as soon as it was going there was a good pace to it with the action represented nicely throughout with a mixture of textless panels and sound effects. This graphic novel really embraced the traditional spooky summer camp mystery and had a really Scooby-Doo vibe that I found engaging and I’m sure many kids will too.

The cast of characters are fun and likeable too. The main character Willow is an excellent example of deaf representation and I particularly liked the part in which this was portrayed through textless speech bubbles representing Willow’s understanding of the world around her when her hearing aids were out of battery. This would make a fantastic opportunity for a discussion about how we experience the world, especially how much we often rely on our senses. Antagonist Mr Tooter was suspicious and unlikeable, but in a good way! Exactly as you’d want him to be. Also, Toast the gnome added an excellent dash of humour into this spooky graphic novel.

Bring on volume 2! I give Secrets of Camp Whatever 4 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for providin

4 stars! Thank you Netgalley for the arc! It was so cute! It is all the paranormal summer camp fun I didn't know I needed! Highly recommend!

3.5☆ A Fun Filled, Mysterious Adventure!


Secrets of Camp Whatever is a new  middle grade, graphic novel series.

When Willow is sent to summer camp in the creepy town of Nowhere, she starts to wonder just what her parents have signed her up for.

Camp Whatever isn't like your normal Summer Camp, it's surrounded by a thick fog, has scary gnomes that appear from nowhere, a vampire lunch lady and camp mates have been known to mysteriously disappear! Oh and the Children are warned never to stray away from camp!

But can Willow and her friends solve the unsolved mysteries that surround Camp Whatever or will it be too late?

I haven't ever really read graphic novels before so it certainly was an experience. I did enjoy it but I had to go back over things a little bit to make sure I was reading it right.

The characters were really good, it was nice to see the main characters as strong female leads. It was also such a refreshing change to see disabilities represented in Children’s Books.

Overall this is a good start to a new series.
The illustrations were comical and fun.
There was Danger, Secrets, and a few mysteries to be solved, a great introduction to middle grade adventure and graphic novels.

This was a fun and strange middle-grade graphic novel. I loved all the diversity, especially having the protagonist be a deaf girl with purple hair! Parts of the plot were a bit confusing though, and seemed to skip back and forth in time in a very unclear way, and there were also areas where it felt like there should be another panel and another line of dialogue/description. Overall, a fun read.

Eleven-year-old Willow’s family has moved back to her dad’s strange hometown of Nowhere. She’s going to go to his old camp, Camp Whatever. He enjoyed the camp when he went there, but one of the campers went missing while he was there. As soon as Willow boards the ship to go to the camp, she can see that it is going to be a strange week. She ends up encountering supernatural mysteries, including gnomes, Bigfoot, and a possible vampire, all hidden in the fog of Camp Whatever.

This was such a fun graphic novel. Going to a new camp can be intimidating enough, without the possibility of encountering supernatural creatures. There were a couple of warning signs before Willow left for camp, such as when her dad said a kid went missing while he was there and there was a creepy clown holding a balloon standing on the dock to the ship. I could tell things would get creepy after those two events.

This story kept me guessing until the end. There were so many different supernatural creatures that I didn’t know what was going to happen next. The setting of a camp can be exciting enough, with kids isolated in a space with limited supervision, but the addition of fantasy creatures made it even more exciting.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel! I can’t wait to read more in this series.

Thank you Oni Press for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Willow would do anything to avoid going to Camp Whatever in the old town of Nowhere. For one thing, she would rather stay at home. For another, there are tales about monsters and goblins lurking in the town.

Her parents, though aware of the stories, insist she goes, claiming that the camp leader, Mr. Tooter will keep her safe. Pissed off and upset, Willow agrees.

The camp life does not start off well. The camp leader, after finding out Willow is deaf, proceeds to speak to her extremely loudly despite the fact that she has hearing aids. Other than that, Willow is convinced that the camp cook is a vampire.

After swearing she saw a hairy beast under a bunk-bed and after her snacks and hearing aid batteries go missing, Willow convinces her friends at the camp to help her investigate the happenings of the town. She is especially suspicious of Elric, a strange faculty member who seems to talk to goblins and steal snacks.

Determined to uncover the many mysteries in the town, Willow risks her life time and time again, breaking camp rules by wandering into the scary woods late at night. What she sees shocks her and changes many of her beliefs about what is real and what isn’t.

When Mr. Tooter starts acting suspicious and a boy at camp thinks he’s lying when he says he sent certain kids home for “being out past curfew,” things get more intense. Willow, Molly, Emily, Violet, and some of the boys set out to find out why some people keep disappearing, and why the camp cook got fired out of the blue.

The first thing I admired about this book was the highlighting of the stigma and misconceptions surrounding people with disabilities. We were shown how ignorant and insensitive people can be.

Other than that, the book was a quick, light read. Yes, there were monsters and goblins but the story as a whole was more comedic and entertaining than spooky or creepy.

The characters were diverse and well-written and the illustrations were excellently done. The plot was well-thought out and the connections and friendships were well-developed and wonderfully highlighted.

There were some unexpected plot twists and some dark moments, making the whole experience enthralling. I loved the creatures in the book, many of which were unique and interesting.

I got into graphic novels only a few months ago when I read Juliet Takes a Breath and I have added Secrets of Camp Whatever to my top graphic novels.

In short, if you like fantasy novels with great characters, you should definitely read this one!

<strong>This was a nice spooky graphic novel</strong></big>! I actually read this back in October 2020, as it seemed like a very seasonal read, but you can of course read <em>The Secrets of Camp Whatever Vol 1.</em> all year round 😄 Overall, this was an interesting<strong> graphic novel centered around a mysterious camp</strong> and the paranormal lurking in the background. It's great if you like summer camps, paranormal creatures and lots of adventure. However, I wasn't 100% blown away by this book as it didn't grip me like other works that I have read. Down below is a list of what I liked and didn't like about this first graphic novel volume!

<b>L I K E S </b>

<strong>Our protagonist is a deaf girl called Willow</strong> ➽ She's not thrilled to be attending a strange camp, but has no choice as her parents are renovating the house they'll move into soon. I liked her curiosity and insistence to do the right thing. The narrative also talks about her experiences as a deaf girl, especially with insensitive and ableist people like the new camp leader.

<strong>I liked the camp setting and the atmosphere</strong> ➽ The summer camp is not at all what it appears to be and the mysterious and often ominous atmosphere is perfectly reflected in the art style. The fog and the secluded island location only added to the very atmospheric feel of the book and makes this a good fit to read if you want something spooky and mysterious!

<strong>There's also lots of adventure and friendship</strong> ➽ Willow quickly befriends her bunkmates and sets out to uncover the secrets of the camp and its inhabitants. I liked the friendship dynamics, the banter and how they all coped with finding out that there is something paranormal at camp!

<strong>I also liked the paranormal element of the story</strong> ➽ There are several mythical creatures that Willow and her friends encounter, from actual legends to werewolves, magicians, vampires and gnomes.

<img src="https://bookcheshirecat.files.wordpress.com/2020/10/likes2.png"/>

<b>D I S L I K E S </b>

<strong>Some things were just very strange to me ➽</strong> Especially how Willow's parents sent her to this super strange camp even though her father knew that another camper disappeared years ago and the old camp leader mysteriously died. You'd think Willow's parents wouldn't send their child to a secluded island with a history of disappearances and strange camp leaders.<strong> It also made no sense to me how no one shut down the camp</strong>. It's got a lot of strange rules, incidents happen, and you tell me that none of the campers who return every year have told their parents about it?

<strong>The plot dragged at a few places</strong> ➽ I mostly liked the story, but sometimes the pacing slowed down a bit too much for my liking. Especially in the middle I wasn't as engaged anymore and felt myself zoning out sometimes. This is going to be a multiple volume graphic novel series, so I'd be interested in seeing the sequels, especially as I think they'll be in a different setting.

<strong>I also felt like some characters could have used more depth</strong> ➽ Willow was by far the most fleshed out, but sadly most of her bunkmates didn't have the same depth. Similarly, the villain was a bit cartoonish at times and not the most interesting to read about.

<strong>IN CONCLUSION.</strong> ➽ <i>Secrets of Camp Whatever Vol 1. </i>was an interesting, <strong>atmospheric graphic novel about mysterious summer camps</strong>, adventure and paranormal creatures. However, I wasn't always feeling engaged with the story and would have liked to see the secondary characters better developed.

Secrets of Camp Whatever, Vol. 1, by Chris Grine is a middle grade graphic novel. Eleven year-old Willow doesn't want to go to her dad's weird old summer camp any more than she wants her family to move to the weird old town where that camp is located. But her family—and fate itself—seem to have plans of their own. Soon Willow finds herself neck-deep in a confounding mystery involving stolen snacks, suspected vampires, and missing campers, all shrouded in the sinister fog that hides a generation of secrets at Camp ... Whatever it's called.

Secrets of Camp Whatever is a story that I think readers from a wide range of ages will enjoy. The art is very well done, and captures the mood of the characters, the setting, and the underlying mysteries very well. I liked the personalities of the kids, and I found their reluctance and curiosity to be very realistic in spite of the things they discover. The way they deal with each other, the adults around them, and the mysteries of the island only made me interested to learn more.Willow's independence, and the way some people treated her, was key in her personality but not the story development. I really enjoyed the read, and am looking forward to this series continuing.

Secrets of Camp Whatever is a fun and engaging graphic novel that left me eager to see what volume two might have in store.

Willow's family are moving into a new house in the town of Nowhere, and to help make the move easier on them all she is sent to away to summer camp, Camp..Whatever.

Camp Whatever is located on a island, which seems to always have fog around it. They are warned not to stray far in it, and not to go out at night. Strange things start to happen, snacks are stolen, hairy arms can have been seen sticking out from under the bed, and the kids say the lunch lady is a vampire.

Strange name, strange town, strange camp directors.

Secrets of Camp Whatever is a cute middle grade graphic novel, I enjoyed the illustrations and the characters. The disability rep with Willow being deaf and wearing a hearing aid was great to see. The fact that that there are characters who knew sign language made me happy.

I'm very interested to see what happens in the next volume, will it be in Camp Whatever next summer or in the town of Nowhere because that town it's self and it's residents have some stories to tell too.

A cute middle-grade fantasy, with a good gentle spook level and a fun cast of characters. There are a few interesting twists throughout.
The protagonist, Willow, is deaf and wears hearing aids, and this is treated in a really nice and interesting way for the target audience, being a full part of her character but far from being her one defining characteristic.
I really loved the art style, and I'm really interested to read more about Wil's adventures in the town of Nowhere!

Camp is a great setting for any book, but especially for a graphic novel. And especially when mythological beings are involved. Camp Whatever presents the reader with the perfect blend of spooky and funny. We have realistic kid characters: selfish, fearful, reckless, rude. They are also pretty accepting of the existence of monsters. They don't spend much time looking for alternate explanations for the odd occurrences. The villain, while a bit over the top, presents a genuine threat to both the human and monstrous characters. This is clearly an introductory volume and future volumes promise to be even stronger. Give this one a try if you have a fondness for the world of weird.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spirited Away x Scooby Doo

Plot: A Deaf eleven-year-old girl named Willow doesn’t want to move to the creepy town known for its disappearances, mysteries, ghosts, and monsters, and especially to spend her summer vacation at Camp Whatever. As Willow meets new friends at the camp, she and her friends will venture to find the real truth about this camp, while also making friends with the other campers, and hiding away from the staff’s view.

Review: This was actually such a fun read!! I read it in one sitting. I like how creepy but funny the graphic novel was throughout the story. From beginning to end I was thrilled to see how creepy the book was going to be. The art style is beautiful, the story itself is great, and the characters are well-diverse. I love the empty speech bubbles on some scenes in the novel, I thought it was very powerful. Overall, I highly recommend this graphic novel, I’m really looking forward to reading more of this series.