A fun romp of summer camp that has its secrets. Though targeted for 9 – 12, adults can definitely enjoy this work. It has a little bit of scare but I don’t think it will give many nightmares. I loved the characters of the “monsters”. They were often more humane than the humans.

Willow, a deaf tween, is the main character who is spunky, smart and tends to ignore the rules if it suits her interest. The story flows smoothly. The illustrations are good. Friendship, courage and standing up for what you believe are strong messages without being preachy. Only the first volume in a series, more secrets promise to be found in the new town Willow and her family are moving to.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honesty review.

Secrets of Camp Whatever would be a great addition to any middle grade classroom library. Not only is the plot engaging, the characters were amazing. There is good representation in terms of ability, and the main character, Willow, defies stereotypes. The climax, falling action, and resolution was a bit rushed, but the exposition and rising action were fabulously written and illustrated. I can not wait to continue the series!

A spooky camp adventure for middle grade and up. This story is full of great human and non-human creatures and mystery as not everything is as it seems. I am very interested in reading another volume to see what the town of Nowhere and Camp Whatever has in store for these kids.

Recommended for: budding horror fans and their families

Content warning: injury to children and animals, some blood and fighting scenes

I received a digital ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a delight to read! The artwork was cute and complemented the story's humorous and fun tone really well. There were some spooky parts at the beginning that helped draw me into the story. I loved the friendships that developed and the seamless inclusivity and diversity in the book. I can't wait to read more!

Secrets of Camp Whatever is a magical and mysterious story about a group of new friends who meet at a summer camp on a strange island. During their short time together, they realize that the island holds many secrets hiding in the woods, but there is someone who wants to destroy them and is willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that happens.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel! It was a fun read, and I loved all of the different creatures we encounter throughout the story. Our main character, Willow, relies on hearing aids to hear, but she doesn’t let that stop her from making new friends, going on adventures, and saving the day. The illustrations were seriously stunning to look at, and the way the entire story flowed and developed was wonderfully done. I would highly recommend this entertaining graphic novel!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for providing an ARC of Secrets of Camp Whatever! This graphic novel is set to be published on 3/2/2021.

Such a sweet adventure story, would definitely recommend to any fans of Lumber janes and The Tea Dragon Society.

Humorous and wholesome with a fun mystery element. This wasn't my usual favourite illustration style but the stories and characters were definitely fleshed out with a lot of representation which was great to see.

Will definitely looking forward to further instalments.

An eleven-year-old deaf girl—Willow—has moved to a new town with her mother, and decides to attend a camp located on an island before school commences, but this place is sprinkled with magic and strangely paranormal with witches, vampires, and more. An adventure that's fun and a mystery that's intriguing, this spooky graphic novel showers whimsical vibes and mystical creatures, in addition to the respectful representation of Willow using hearing aids and communicating via the sign language. Filled with numerous plot twists and a tyrannical revelation that keeps one interested in the next volumes, this story also highlights the courage found in friendships.

A fun story set in a supernatural and mysterious summer camp, which is located in an equally mysterious town where Willow and her family have just moved to.
We start with moving to the town and sending Willow to a week long summer camp.
This volume encompasses the entire week at camp (or at least on the island where the camp is, there isn't much camp action). I mostly enjoyed the cast of characters, I liked the art, and the story. There are some humorous moments and a few twists and suspenseful moments.

I like how we got a contained story, but with hints of a further arc.

I could have done without the poopies bag bit, but maybe 11 year olds find poop funny...

Recommend it for fans of Gravity Falls and Lumberjanes. Looking forward to reading more volumes.

This book was a fun read. It started off a bit slow and I was wondering where everything was going, but as the story progressed, I got very interested.

Willow ends up at this really creepy summer camp. New friends, new annoyances, mystical creatures, and a whole lot of mystery. In the beginning, Willow has a serious attitude problem and it was a little annoying to me. But once she makes friends at Camp Whatever, her grumpiness goes away.

This is an entertaining little adventure and, as a graphic novel, I felt like I was right there. The illustrations are well-done. I wouldn't say gorgeous because some of the creatures in the book were really hideous. But the illustrations definitely fit the tone of the book.

As this is Vol. 1, it's a series I would definitely continue.

The Secrets of Camp Whatever starts off with a family moving to a small town with a colorful, quirky cast of characters who warn them of the dangers that await them in their new home and at the local summer camp, which the protagonist, Willow will be attending.

The story immediately made me feel nostalgic. I remember begging my parents to let me go to summer camp in hopes that I would make friends and have mysterious adventures with them. Although I never got to go, the Secrets of Camp Whatever is a good substitute. The characters feel familiar and instantly likable.

I genuinely appreciate the author's willingness include a variety of female characters, many of who are relatable or feel like people I’ve known. This story provides great representation and is inclusive. I applaud the positive female relationships depicted in this story, which is sadly still underrepresented in the media.

The story-telling and art have a very cinematic quality. Every panel flows naturally to the next like a storyboard, and all of the characters have a distinct voice. The clarity of this story makes it very easy to imagine it adapted to the screen.

If you are a fan of Lumberjanes, Gravity Falls, or just the general allure of the mystical pacific northwest pastiche, then Secrets of Camp Whatever is right up your alley.

This was the first graphic novel I ever read, and was a fantastic introduction into the world of comics!

Secrets of Camp Whatever Vol. 1 is Chris Grine’s first comic in the Camp Whatever series. Due to be released in March 2021, so far, all its early reviews are highly favourable.

It’s a wonderful story of friendship and courage and the perfect fantasy tale for young children. It involves magic and loyalty and the bravery of a young girl who stands up for what’s right despite her hardships.

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Summary
This graphic novel follows eleven-year-old Willow as she reluctantly moves to a new town with her family. Her parents send her to her dad’s old summer camp while they settle in, but this sets off a train of events that nobody can predict. Willow and her new friends battle against corrupt figures of authority and time itself as they rush to save the strange creatures that live on the camp’s island. From a vegetarian bigfoot to frozen gnome statues to suspected vampire cooks, Willow is neck-deep in the mysteries that surround Camp… Whatever. And only she can save it from the new tyrannical director.

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Commentary
It’s an interesting novel full of a lot of highlights best suited to children.

Praise
- The art is incredible throughout the novel. The characters are interesting looking and unique, with strange hairstyles and large facial features. The scenery is mysterious and colourful, with swirling mist and accurate camp life depictions.
- Despite it being a simple story, there are numerous plot twists included. So-called ‘good’ characters turn out to be evil, supernatural creatures appear in the strangest of places, and the main character herself has some surprising ideas. It keeps the reader on their toes and makes some parts of the novel completely unpredictable.
- The main character has a so-called ‘disability’; she’s almost entirely deaf and needs to use hearing aids. It’s treated respectfully and realistically throughout the story. While some characters try to overcompensate, others act too cool about it which ends up making things awkward anyway. Sign language plays a central role in the comic, which is a pleasant change from the norm.

Critique
- As far as the characters names go, the author was trying too hard. The main character’s family includes names like Gryphin and Elena. Even secondary characters are called Tooter, Mim, and the Stump twins. There’s a certain level of originality needed to make books interesting, but in this novel, it’s been taken too far.
- There are too many supernatural creatures included for the short length of this novel. From werewolves, vampires and witches to gnomes, chickcharnees and bigfoot, there are too many types to keep track of.
- The fact that Willow’s parents sent her to the camp, to begin with, is strange. And not in a good way. They’re told by numerous people that the camp is dangerous and mysterious. Her father even admits that a child went missing during his time in the camp. Yet they still send her? Even as Willow gets on the boat, her parents question if it’s a good idea, but they decide to smile and wave anyway.

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Recommendations
Overall, I’d give Chris Grine’s Secrets of Camp Whatever Vol. 1 a three out of five. It’s a simple yet entertaining graphic novel that teaches children many important life lessons.

I’d recommend it for nine to twelve-year-olds, but no one older. It’s interesting enough to keep children hooked, but for teenagers and adults, it’s too basic to hold their attention.

I generally enjoyed this graphic novel. (Sorry that's not such a glowing start!) There were some things structurally that needed neatening up: layering dialogue in a way that characters are just repeating each other and not developing the narrative, the pacing in places etc, too heavy focus on things that are 'spooky' rather than leaving the space for the audience to feel the tension being created. BUT!
The characters are great, I really like the way things are named so loosely, 'Camp Whatever' and 'Nowhere' plays into the audience's expectations and it's a really fun twist. I'm looking forward to the second vol.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

The representation is definitely the best thing about this! My gf is also deaf and every time I see this amazing representation, my heart melts <3

I wasn't exactly invested in the story, the plot to be more specific, but I absolutely adored the characters in fact, they were the reason I kept reading until the end...

This book was wonderfully magical. Following the story of a Wil, an adventurous girl who needs a hearing aid, and her journey through a week long summer camp after moving to a new town. It's amazing how the author uses sign language to help some of the characters communicate with Wil and normalizes it within the story. This book is very reminiscent of the whimsical experience of going to camp as a child and meeting new friends while also including mystical creatures. This book was very fun to read and I would defintely recommend it.

I received an e-arc of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5/5 stars

I'm going to be completely honest and say that I actually almost didn't finish this one. I had been hovering at about about 30% complete for quite some time and just couldn't seem to really get into it but I thought I would try to continue pushing through anyways. For the most part, the rest of the story didn't completely blow me away but I became much more interested in it around the 40-50% mark.

I thought the overall premise of the story was really interesting but I wish that things would have picked up a little sooner. The mysteriousness of the camp and the creatures on the island really had me pulled in and I loved the execution of the different creatures and probably would be the biggest reason I would be interested in picking up more in the series. I'm also interested to see how this series will continue now that camp is over though it does seem like not everything is at it seems so maybe it will be easy to continue in a different setting. I do hope that the friendship group is able to stick together and continue to learn more about each other.

Other than the slowness of the beginning of the story I did actually really enjoy it. The magical creatures were definitely the driving force of the book even though I did enjoy the main characters as well but they weren't as exciting as the creatures.

Secrets of Camp Whatever is a great graphic novel for middle grade students who enjoy adventure, a little bit of mystery, and some fantasy. Recommended for students who enjoyed Be Prepared and the Lumberjanes series.

I want to start by saying that the art work in this graphic novel is incredible. I read this on my tablet and the colours popped, the text was clear and the most legible of any graphic novels I have read over the past few months and it just made my reading of this story so much more enjoyable. I wanted to turn each page to see what new fantasies and stories the author and illustrators had created and brought together for my eyes to feast on.

I buddy this with a friend for a readathon prompt, but man it was so good. It was one of the longer graphic novels I have read, but it still wasn't long enough - when I got to the end I just remember thinking that I wanted volume 2 <i>now<i>.

So, this graphic novel follows Willow and her family as they move to "Nowhere" - and she before school starts (while Mum is getting settled into their new house), Willow will go to Camp "Whatever". I loved her teenage attitude, and was very happy to see some diversity in the characters - Willow uses hearing aids and speaks sign language. A fact that comes up over the story, not to put her at a disadvantage, but to show hoe being without her hearing aids can affect her - or to show how much they can help her. (take your pick, but sides of the same coin are true at different points). I'm only on the hard of hearing spectrum, but the constant mask-use that is ongoing at the minute is affecting my ability to read lips and I can only imagine how much it would affect a Deaf person if their hearing aids ran out of batteries. (My Granda is bad enough with or without his).

There are so many fantastical points to this story that it felt like being on a roller coaster - in the best way possible. There were twists and loops that I didn't see coming, and peaks so high that I didn't know where we were heading - but I did enjoy every single page and minute of the journey.

Personally, I can't wait to get my hands on volume #2.

I loved this spooky summer camp mystery! It starts out with quite a dark tone for a kids' book, but it ends up being so much fun. It's a great all-ages supernatural adventure.

At first the plot seemed strange to me but when they arrive at the camp it takes shape and the interesting thing begins.
It's a fun, adventure-filled graphic novel in the style of Gravity Falls but a bit more chilling.
I really liked that the protagonist is deaf because she teaches about inclusion and shows that we must have empathy for the other who is not on equal terms.
The friend who does there knows sign language showing the importance of knowing so that she can help.
If you are looking for a novel that takes place in the summer, has chilling scenes but is also about inclusion, this is the ideal one.

I absolutely loved this book! It’s smart and funny and the art is great. I would definite recommend this book to friends.