What the junk?! There’s a new Lumberjanes NOVEL for middle-grade readers hitting stores this October! Even if you’re not a hardcore lady type, this book will have readers in stitches as they follow Ripley, Molly, Jo, Mal and April on an all new adventure as they attempt to scale a massive mountain. As usual, things don’t go quite as planned and lots of weird stuff happens. My inner X-Files nerd loves this series for that reason.
Written by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Brooke Allen (one of the series’ original creators), there are plenty of zany adventures, wicked-awesome catch phrases and hilarious moments that keep the plot humming along. I read an advanced reader copy earlier this summer and couldn’t put it down.
What in the Joan, Jett? There’s Unicorns?!
Did I not mention that? Apart from the always charming girl-power heroines, adding unicorns into the mix of supernatural creatures that the girls encounter was lots of fun. The storyline felt whimsical, just like the graphic novels, which I appreciated since I am such a huge fan of the series. There were all sorts of hilarious details, like beautiful unicorns that smell terrible and bizarre camper badges too.
Friendship to the Max!
One detail that I loved about this book was the ability to learn more about each character through the detailed backstory. In the graphic novels, there are lots of fascinating reveals too, but I found that in this medium, there was an even greater opportunity to reveal more through changing point of view and narration. Through the varying narrative voices, this new instalment of Lumberjanes has a lot of cool moments that add a whole new level of enjoyment to the reading experience.
Fantastic Illustrations!
Have I mentioned yet how much I love the illustrations? Scattered throughout the prose, there are lots of illustrations that could have come right from the graphic novels themselves. It was fun to read a scene and then see an imagining of what it might look like, since I’d already read the graphic novels. Truthfully, I’m a sucker for sketches or other elements that give a text greater depth, because it makes the whole reading experience feel richer.
Should you read this book? Um, yeah. If you like girl-power narratives, high-stakes adventures or just stories about lots of weird things happening, this book is for you!
The Novel Shrink 