This is a sweet and heartbreaking story with great artwork. I initially thought it sounded fun, but there is a lot more here than just amusement. Both main characters can definitely use a friend, and after a rough start they end up making a great team. The cover is adorable and the concept is well done. I look forward to more from this artist/author!

Let me start by saying that if you're one of those people who are currently trying to get into the Halloween spirit, this is the book for you.

Sheets tells the story of Marjorie Glatt, a 13 year old girl struggling to keep her family's laundromat running less than a year after her mother passed away. Trying to manage school bullies, making sure her dad gets out of bed, rude customers, and a man attempting to buy the property that the laundromat rests on, is obviously too much for a regular 13 year old to handle. Meanwhile, Wendell, a forgotten ghost boy with no friends, flees from the land of the dead and finds haven in Marjorie's laundromat, unfortunately for Marjorie, her unwanted guest seems to have a knack for sabotaging her hard work. 

This book was not what I was expecting.

To be completely honest I only had a vague idea of what the book was about and had no clue that there were real ghosts involved in this story. So, I guess that was an unexpected (but pleasant) surprise. Brenna Thummler's interpretation of ghosts is so cute, I mean, I am all for the dead people become linen idea, especially when some of the linen get to accessorize with glasses and headbands and turbans.

The plot was unique, but I definitely felt like it was lacking at some points. It was very rushed towards the end and parts of it were a bit flighty and all over the place. But I absolutely loved the art! The use of color was so nice, especially when the book switches from the world of the living to the world of the dead, the contrast is just pure genius.

My only complaint is that I wish the book was longer. The plot is sweet and I really liked Brenna Thummler’s interpretation of ghosts and the ‘ghost world’, but I felt that towards the end it was a bit rushed in wrapping up.

I would still definitely recommend this book, if not for the plot then definitely for the amazing art.

3/5 Stars
⭐⭐⭐

SHEETS is a sad, but powerful middle grades graphic novel about loss, perseverance, forgiveness and unlikely friendships.

Marjorie, a thirteen year old girl, who feels invisible to the world. When her mother died, her father shut himself down emotionally. Marjorie is not running the family laundry and taking care of her little brother. She loves books and the piano. She is awkward and has not friends. A tough life trying to get through middle school. Throw in a ruthless business man harassing her, and I do not understand how she makes it through the day. And then there is Wendell. He is the ghost of a little boy, who has the habit of exaggerating. He is a cute little ghost who wears a sheet. When Wendell gets kicked out of his house and needs a place to stay, he ends up in the human world, living in the laundry. There are all kinds of problems with this, but when push comes to shove, Wendell and Marjorie team up to save the laundry.

This book is a graphic novel that deals with some deep issues: death of family and friends and the depression of the child forced into taking care of her family, as well as the bullying. Having said that, it is also about second chances and finding friends in the most unlikely places. The illustrations are wonderful. They are colourful, yet muted in pastel shades that add to the despair that Marjorie is feeling. The faces show so much expression, it is easy to see how the characters are feeling. This is a clever story that I believe middle school students would enjoy and perhaps some may identify with these outcast characters. With Halloween around the corner, this is a different type of ghost story. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book to read. The rating, ideas and opinions shared are my own.

Sheets is an enjoyable graphic novel with a good message at heart. It portrays grief and dying in a way that isn't too saccharine or heavy-handed. That said, I really liked the last thirty or so pages but overall the book just left me feeling kinda "eh" about it. It's a decent book, and I thought the novelty of ghosts needing to launder their sheets was a cute touch, but I wasn't blown away by the story either. Still, I think kids will enjoy this, and with Halloween coming up it's always a good time to read a story about a ghost.

Loved this one, and honestly couldn't put it down after I started. Carve out a good reading corner and load it up. You'll be glad you did.

This story started out very bleak. Marjories whole day started and ended with that laundromat, reminding her of the loss of her mother and how her dad seem lost to his grief. Leaving her to take all responsibility for home and income. This was for me the most frightening thing about the whole story, not her heartbreaking struggle to juggle school and work, or that creep Nigel, but how her dad is portrayed as basically abandoning his kids in need. For me that's the worst thing I could do to my kids in their situation. Towards the end everything sorts itself out though and when the ghost Wendell arrive I began to get more invested and as a whole I liked this story. If my feelings hadn't gotten tangled with the dad's story arc I think I would have liked it more. It was well written and the illustration style complimented the story very well.

An adorable book with lovely art and a sweet story. A little girl is trying to keep her family together after the loss of her mom with the help of a special ghost.

Sheets explores the themes of friendship, overcoming loss and dealing with grief through beautiful illustrations and a unique storyline. The use of ghosts as characters makes the heavy topics seem a little less so, and in my opinion, make this graphic novel a little more approachable for a variety of readers. Overall, a quick read with a beautiful ending.

Thummler's art is best when she shows us scenes of the town where main character Marjorie Glatt lives, evocative panels full of old buildings, autumnal leaves, and windy streets. The laundromat setting is a particularly novel touch, and serves as a bridge between Marjorie's story, in which she misses her recently deceased mother, and the story of a young ghost, Wendell, who feels at home among the laundy, especially the sheets. The connection between these two main strands seems not completely formed, however, and the antagonist of the story, a would-be entrepreneur named Mr. Saubertuck who wants to buy the Glatts' laundry on the cheap and turn it into a spa, does too much villainous mustache-twirling and bwa-ha-ha-ing to fit comfortably alongside the otherwise nuanced portrayal of the grief Marjorie and her father feel .

I was really enjoying this, but my NetGalley download expired before I could finish it reading it on screen through Adobe Digital Editions. Marjorie Glatt works at her late mother’s laundromat after school and lives above it with her kindergarten-age brother Owen and their father, who’s totally withdrawn since his wife’s death. Seedy Mr. Saubertuck keeps stopping by and repeating his offer to buy out the laundromat and turn it into a spa and yoga resort, but Marjorie puts him off. Meanwhile, we’re introduced to the “Dead Youth Empathetics,” a set of ghosts in stereotypical white sheets, including Wendell, who was hit by a train.

This story is really very cute and you get identified with certain characters of it. At first I was not convinced of the story that was before us, but when I read it I realized that we should always expect the unexpected, we will never know when that something will come that will make you happy.
It has this spooky funny vibe that I love.
It is entertaining, fresh and fun, I recommend it 100%

I LOVED this !! said to be a children's book but it has learning for adults too.. Graphic novels are such a relief when we are bored with big intense reads.
This one worked such a stress buster, the look of it shows it as a funny, humorousness novel but in fact the book takes up serious topic and leanings too.

Story is based around Marjorie Glatt, a 13 year old girl, which runs laundry for feeding her family every night. But the cleaning isn't easy, with her customers getting issues with the clothes she work on. And then there is Mr. Saubertuck, who wants to buy the place and open a huge hotel. He tries to ruin Glatt's image in front of customer. Until Glatt, comes face to face with Wendell, a ghost. Somehow helping her to save her laundry, and showing real face of Mr Saubertuck to others.

The illustrations are so colorful, and detailed. I specifically liked those illustrations where pink flowers cover the pages, across. These were beautiful.

Full review will be posted on blog soon.
Thanks netgalley, and publishers/authors for an e-arc in return of an honest review.

The reason I'm giving this such a high rating is because of the graphics. Holy crap! They were absolutely breath taking. I was utterly surprised by it. However...the storyline was not the strongest which is the only downfall. I would recommend this to a friend just for the illustrations!

I received an advanced readers copy of this book through NetGalley.
Marjorie Glatt is a high school student trying to keep her family's laundry business going. Her father has sunk into a deep depression since her mother's drowning death and does nothing to help her. She feels invisible at school and is taunted by her peers. A disreputable man Mr. Saubertuck is trying to put the laundry out of business in an unrealistic scheme to take over the location and turn it into a spa. He doesn't want to buy the business from the Glatt family he just wants them to give it to him in exchange for jobs and a place for them to live. He finds the spare key to the laundry and sabotages Marjorie's work
Wendell is a young ghost who is having trouble fitting into the ghost world and following its rules. He goes to the laundry at night to get his sheet clean and discovers Mr Saubertuck though he doesn't know what Saubertuck is doing. At first Marjorie blames Saubertuck's sabotage on Wendell who has accidentally spilled some dye,but ultimately, Wendell manages to help Marjorie save the business.

Marjorie is trying to keep the family business, a laundromat, together. Her mother passed away, and Dad has mostly checked out. She has to cope with self-centered customers and a pushy, smarmy neighborhood businessman. Then the ghosts appear.

The spirits all look like the classic children’s image, white sheets with a rounded top for a head. But they go to support groups to try and accept how they died, and their world is notably less colorful than Marjorie’s. The imaginative Wendell isn’t ready for that, so he finds Marjorie’s laundromat, which feels like a spa for his sheet.

Thummler’s style isn’t as smooth and simplified as some of the most popular graphic novels for kids. Her lines have more options, more of a sense of uncertainty that works well with Marjorie’s struggles. It can mean getting lost in some panels, where the key item isn’t immediately visible. Instead of clearly drawing the eye through the story, Thummler’s work wanders, and the faces sometimes look odd.

The pacing could also be improved. Lengthy sections move through day-to-day detail, showing the ennui of Marjorie’s existence. The story could have been tightened; as it is now, Wendell and Marjorie finally meet halfway through the 200-plus pages. The meandering structure is more common to reads targeted for an adult audience, where realism is more appreciated; younger readers may not have the patience needed to wait around for things to happen. Elements of the happy ending are rushed and not well established previously.

There are honest feelings about loss and sadness expressed here, but the emotional development of the characters is jumpy. There’s plenty of detail, but the reader may sometimes wonder what it provides to the core story. Another editing pass might have made for a more satisfying, tighter read.

Thummler has some areas to work on, but the combination of laundry, sheets, and ghosts is clever. Sheets fills the gap of something to read between more polished YA graphic novel releases.

Sheets is a cute graphic novel with a deeper plot. The colours were stunning, but I wasn't a huge fan of the art style. The emotion in the characters tugged at my heartstrings, but other characters were quite annoying and frustrating. Also, yes, I know this is about ghosts, but it seemed kind of unrealistic. How did a kid get away with running their laundromat? Did their father get help or did he just make promises?
I thought the ghost world was cute! I loved Wendall. What a sweetheart. I thought the other ghosts were endearing. I hated the “bad guy” and I thought he was completely overexaggerated. The plot didn’t flow very smoothly, and I was confused by the dialogue sometimes.
Marjorie, while a child, was honestly a complete doormat. She let everyone walk all over her, she let Mr. Saubertuck do whatever he wanted in her shop, leaving pamphlets and advertisements. Like, how dare he? That was infuriating, and she just let it happen! Nobody stopped him!
I did enjoy parts of this graphic novel. There were cute bits, especially in the ghost world. Wendell was a dear, but his death was super sad. Ugh. Just all-around sad.
Decent graphic novel! I’d recommend it to some people and I’ll check out more by Brenna Thummler in the future for sure!

This graphic novel is so lovely, but emotionally heavy. That is in no way a bad thing, but be prepared to feel many emotions throughout the book. The color pallet and illustrations are stunning and bright which is a lovely juxtaposition to the story itself. A truly enjoyable graphic novel, I am excited to see more from Brenna Thummler.

This is the first graphic novel that I’ve read and it took on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. I can’t wait for Breena Thummler to release another novel.

This is graphic novel is beautiful. Even more than that, it tells a very touching story about a girl and a ghost and their unlikely friendship. Their story touches on hard subjects like death, depression, and loneliness.

Marjorie is a young girl that is taking care of her family after the death of her mother. As Marjorie struggles to keep her family’s laundry business out of the hands of Mr. Saubertuck, she gets an unexpected ghostly visitor.

This is a perfect read for the fall season.

Firstly, I love the illustrations, there's something so simple and wonderful about them. The colours are so beautiful I found myself just staring at some pages forever.
I want to print them, frame them and put them on my wall.
The story is bittersweet. There's such sadness laced with humour and beauty.
I love the ghosts, and how we first meet them at a support group for dead youth (I don't know why but most of their scenes are quite amusing!). And how we see Marjorie and Wendell's stories side by side until they eventually collide.
This was such a warm and cosy read, if you know what I mean! It's just what I needed for Autumn!
I'm incredibly impressed that the author wrote and illustrated this heartwarming story herself. Definitely a success for her first graphic novel!

Marjorie is in charge of her family’s business, a laundromat. She struggles because she had to take over their business when her mother passed away. She doesn’t have friends at school. It gets worse when Mr. Saubertuck starts sabotaging her business so that he can build a resort on their property.

I found this story so sad. It was sad that Marjorie’s mother passed away, and her father didn’t really do anything after because he was so depressed. Marjorie didn’t have time to explore her feelings because she had to look after the family.

Wendell and the land of ghosts were also sad. Wendell is starting to forget his former life. The ghosts have a whole world, where they float around in sheets. The idea of the land of ghosts in sheets was funny sometimes. They had support groups and jobs. But it was still sad to think that all of those people had died and they were beginning to forget their former lives.

This was an emotional story with a positive ending about the power of friendship and forgiveness.