Be Prepared

I bought this for my eleven year old about three years ago (thirteen now), and now her younger sister (recently eleven) ADORES this book! so perfect and really portrays such great emotion. Amazing artwork with sweet, awkward, and just cute main character. the younger generation really needs to know about how not everybody is the same and not everyone comes from the same place. this book also has some older girls having their periods, and I was actually ok with that. women have been menstruating for as long as humankind existed; I don't know why it's such a big deal. young people need to know this, especially boys and girls at this preteen age. great read!

I always look forward to Vera's graphic novels. As a small boy, I loved Russian fairy tales. I grew up in a military family in the 70's in India. We lived all over India in different cities every 3 years. We were exposed to Soviet, German, British and American culture music movies books. My favorite childhood books were the Russian fairy tales. I can identify with people who are yanked out of their comfort zones and are thrown into a new environment often. This book is a very realistic rendering of a childhood memory in detail of a little girl who goes to a camp. I think this is a gem of a book.

Both of my kids love this book. It's a graphic novel that is a coming-of-age story about a girl who feels out-of-place as she is poor (while her 'friends' are rich) and also their family is from Russia and keep up with Russian traditions that her friends seem to feel are strange and she often feels like an outsider and is treated as such. Her mom struggles financially and sends off her kiddos to a camp while she attempts to find a foothold professionally so she can support her family. Her kids are coping at various levels and her daughter in particular seems to be struggling both socially and developmentally. This is a beautiful story about how a kid overcomes such obstacles and finds a way to make friends and even find her own value and self-worth independent of where she came from and also learns a lot about what makes a real friend as opposed to pandering to what is popular or giving in to peer pressure. It's also very funny and heartwarming with many heart-wrenching examples of anxieties that kids have (like her believe that she was going to die from rabies when she was bitten by a squirrel). The plot-twist at the end is really telling - as it's obvious that the protagonist struggling with change constantly and certainly some kids struggle with change more than others! An important message for resilience and finding your own voice.

The illustration in this book is beautiful! I saw this book in the library and thought I would like to buy it for my scout troop but as I began to read it, I saw the age listed 8-10 is incorrect. This book is for older pre-teens and teens and even then the message that bullying other kids IS NOT o.k. should strongly be voiced.

This graphic novel is loosely based on the author’s real-life experiences and her Russian-American background and that makes for a unique twist on a familiar setting for some kids - summer camp! 9-year old Vera is a Russian immigrant and we learn at the beginning of the novel, she doesn’t doesn’t exactly fit in with the popular crowd. Or really any crowd at all. Her family is poor and their traditions and food are just enough “culturally off” to make her feel awkward among the girls she invites to a birthday sleepover that goes bad…. And oh man… how I felt for poor Vera that night! That’s some real-life cringe-worthy stuff though. Vera desperately wants to fit in and finally convinces her mother to send her and her brother to a Russian summer camp sponsored by their Orthodox church where they will learn the Russian language and religion along with the typical summer camp things - like learning why you shouldn’t feed the wildlife and finding a comfortable place to poop! Brosgol’s illustrations are outstanding with a foresty green color palette. And this book about the poor choices one can make in the quest for friendship along with that added layer of feeling like you don’t really belong enough in any culture makes this graphic novel feel like a blend of Shannon Hale’s Real Friends and Kelly Yang’s Front Desk. This would be a great recommendation for kids in about grades 4 or 5 and up.

I had been waiting to see more of Vera's work since Anya's Ghost and this did not disappoint. I found the sense of being miserable and alone at camp to be very relatable. But it wasn't all bad of course. It was a very enjoyable read and has such a wonderfully relaxed style. Flipping to the end made me really appreciate the watercolor, limited color palette look. Highly recommend!

My 9yo daughter couldn't put this down and says it has a great plot. I read it and loved it too. It's so funny and relatable, the artwork is both cute and beautiful, and you will fall in love with the main character! If your child loves graphic novels like Smile and Awkward, he/she will love this.

I read this after reading Anya’s Ghost. I’ll read anything Vera puts out. Another great read!

My girls absolutely love this book. We’ve read it at bedtime at least three times through now and each time, it has them feeling so much empathy for the little girl in the story whilst also giggling away at the parts about the toilet and Guinea pig!

Got it as a gift and heard positive feedback that it was great!

Una historia amena

I have now resorted to getting graphic novels “for myself” to get my kids to read, and banning them from going anywhere near it. Of course this piqued their interest. My 10yr old and 6yr old both enjoyed this coming-of-age story.

Ma fille de 10 ans a adoré et l’a lu en une fois