This is great graphic novel for middle grades. I believe it is based on witch folklore about a woman who loses her daughter and turns into a witch and searches for her daughter for eternity. She also tries to hurt anyone who comes into the woods which the title characters do. I actually found the illustrations to be quite scary for a middle grade graphic novel which means middle schoolers will love it!. The text and conversations were well written and thought out and the plot was scary and original even though it was based on folklore. I would recommend to a middle schooler that likes a little more adventure in their reading.

This was a great book about tackling grief and life changes and how friends keep you together when the world seems like it's falling apart. The artwork was well done and created a creepy element to it. I didn't really think the character development was great, but the characters were fun and enjoyable. This is definitely a great scary graphic novel for middle graders.

I loved this story but I was a little confused at who the target audience was supposed to be. The story takes place in 1993. This is the story of a boy & his sister who have a nanny that is like family & she dies. The mother tries to find a new nanny because she needs her job to support her family. The kids struggle to cope with the grief of their previous nanny and end up making a questionable choice. When mom hires a new nanny, there's something off...something really off & the kids & their friends end up fighting for their lives.

The fact that it is based in 1993 adds a nostalgia and makes it so they don't have ready access to technology, but I feel like it makes it less relevant to kids that are the same age as the protagonist. Also, things get a little scary/violent with the monster that they fight near the end. I know that many kids can handle this, but I'm not sure if it is a given when looking at the cover that this will happen.

It feels like it's meant for middle school, but the characters look like they are in elementary school. If you know some older elementary school kids who are really into horror movies, especially stories where 'kids on bikes' save the day with their clever plans, this will be the book for them.

"The Sleepover" is a sensitive horror story exploring tragedy, grief, and what can happen when we do not process our grief well. Both the protagonists and antagonist have suffered a terrible loss, and each processes that loss differently. It is an engaging story with enough spookiness to hook young horror lovers while still delving into these delicate issues with grace and empathy. The art is well done, and color is used efficiently to set the mood of the scene. Highly recommended for middle grade collections.

Ruby was the best babysitter for Matt and Judy. When Matt and Judy return home from vacation to find that Ruby has passed away suddenly, they need to find another babysitter. Their mom hires Miss Swan for the evening while Matt has his friends over for a sleepover. However, there’s something strange about Miss Swan. Matt suspects that she is actually the rumored witch who lives in the woods behind their house and supposedly eats children. His mom thinks that Matt is just missing Ruby, and that’s why he doesn’t like the new babysitter. Matt has to try to convince everyone else that Miss Swan is actually a witch.

This graphic novel reminded me of Stranger Things. It was set in 1993, and the children loved watching horror movies. Each of the four friends had their strengths and weaknesses when it came to figuring out the truth about the witch. Judy tried to join in with the boys, but since she was the little sister, she wasn’t always included. Though it is set almost 30 years in the past, this story still had relatable characters and relationships.

Fears were an important theme to this story. Ruby was scared of thunderstorms, so she always had to be close to Matt and Judy during a storm. This showed that even adults can have irrational fears that can affect their lives. A fear was the key to the ending of the novel, so it was an important part of the story.

The Sleepover is a spooky middle grade graphic novel!

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

3.5 stars. A good Middle Grade graphic novel with plenty of chills, humor, and heart. But also a few problems.

First of all, my daughter, a rising sixth-grader who likes creepy graphic novels in general, really enjoyed this. She loved the style of the artwork, and has pointed out a few favorite details in the story: How the boys' love of watching horror movies during their sleepovers made them quick to jump to conclusions about supernatural happenings; the boys' sense of humor; the ominous ravens. But she also took issue with a few things, in her words stating that the little sister wasn't heroic like the boys even though she was also a main character, the origin story of the Witch was so-so, and it was weird how the first (Black) nanny, Ruby, didn't seem to have her own life; we only know her as a nanny.

Which brings me to my own thoughts. I agree that the style of the art is great -- the color palette helping to tell the tale and set the scenes -- and that this is an age-appropriate scary monster story with age-appropriate messaging around grief and familial love. I also appreciated how it didn't feel dated even though it's explicitly set in the early 1990s (no smartphones! omg!). As an adult reader I have to suspend my disbelief regarding some of the random supernatural elements and very thin details in the Witch's origin story. That's par for the course in a lot of horror stories! And regarding the little sister's alleged lack of heroism, I actually disagree. The girl is quite heroic in her own way, though it may not be as readily apparent to those who define heroism through a lens of masculinity. I feel a parenting conversation coming on; I hope that parents with boys reading this might notice this dynamic too.

My main problem with the book, something I had a difficult time getting past, was in the portrayal of Ruby, the family's beloved nanny, who dies near the beginning and is then seen in a series of flashbacks, all of which focus on her care for the children and her imparting of possibly-supernatural wisdom. The kids' grief over Ruby's death forms the heart of the story. I've understood that Ruby is based on a real person, and I'm sure she was a wonderful human being. But the fictionalized version blatantly embodies a common trope known as the "Magical Negro" -- a sort of "magical black character" with little to no known past, whose purpose is to selflessly help white characters. This is actually more or less how young children probably see their nannies, of any color, and I get that. But that's no excuse in a book written by an adult in 2021 with 30 years' hindsight. The adult mother in the book also seems to see the nanny this way, and ignores the uncomfortable transactional elements of employing a nanny while just saying she's family. If only Ruby had been given more of a personal life, or if even a couple of the other supporting characters (or heck, even the central family!) had been POC, this racially problematic trope wouldn't have stuck out so much.

None of this makes The Sleepover a bad book. I'd encourage MG kids to give it a read! I'd just encourage, also, that parents engage with them over the details.