Graphic Novel Review – Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Middle Grade
Genre: Graphic Novel/Contemporary Fiction
Length: 256 pages
Publisher: First Second
Release Date: April 24, 2018
ISBN-13: 978-1626724457
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 4/5 stars

In Be Prepared, all Vera wants to do is fit in―but that’s not easy for a Russian girl in the suburbs. Her friends live in fancy houses and their parents can afford to send them to the best summer camps. Vera’s single mother can’t afford that sort of luxury, but there’s one summer camp in her price range―Russian summer camp.

Vera is sure she’s found the one place she can fit in, but camp is far from what she imagined. And nothing could prepare her for all the “cool girl” drama, endless Russian history lessons, and outhouses straight out of nightmares!

This was a well done graphic novel about being different, friendship, and summer camp. I enjoyed it and thought it was well done.

Vera just wants to fit in but her poor Russian family doesn’t fit well with the other kids in the suburbs. She is very excited when she finds out she can go to an all Russian summer camp. However, when she gets there she finds out that camp is much more rustic than expected and she ends up having just as many issues with the Russian girls. Vera finally decides to try to find a way to make friends and fit in on her own terms.

The illustration is well done but uses just a few different tones of color (not my favorite). The story is good, very much a coming of age tale. It touches on friendship, family, and how being different is okay. This graphic novel is based on Brosgol’s summer camp experiences but not a true autobiography.

Overall I enjoyed this. It’s a good graphic novel about summer camp and making friends. I would recommend to those who enjoy contemporary fiction “coming-of-age” types of graphic novels.