Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of Sheets. This was a cute comic book with great illustrations.I would be interested in reading more from the author.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.

'Sheets' is a story about Marjorie Glatt, a thirteen-year-old girl balancing school and her family's laundry business whilst dealing with the grief of losing her mother. Unexpectedly, she crosses paths with Wendell - a ghost - who has a talent for getting into trouble.

'Sheets' is such an adorable, whimsical story but also touches on some heavy topics that will trigger the emotions of readers, both young and old.

The illustrations are absolutely beautiful. I particularly loved the ghost scenes. Marjorie and Wendell's relationship started off in such a cute way and I would love to read more about them! If you're looking for something light and comforting, with characters that you can truly connect to, this is the graphic novel for you!

I loved this story and the creative way it depicted different facets of grief. I teared up multiple times, especially when it came to the adults in Marjorie’s life and their inability to see and understand her.

In Sheets we follow two perspectives. Marjorie is in charge of her family’s laundromat after the death of her mother. She is struggling to maintain her ‘normal’ life, whilst local Mr Saubertuck is trying to sabotage all of her efforts. Meanwhile Wendell is a boy who passed away, now trapped within the identity of a sheet. When these perspectives combine we see Wendell accidentally causing Marjorie more trouble, that is until they learn to work together.

This graphic novel really captured my attention, the art pulled me in first. The colour palette used is just so soothing and beautiful. The font used throughout is fun yet readable. I liked how the perspectives kept swapping, and how the colours would shift depending on whose perspective we were seeing. I really enjoyed the pacing throughout the book and felt I was able to keep up and get just the right amount of information, however as I neared the end of the book it felt quite rushed. Despite the pacing at the end, I still really enjoyed this book and even shed a few tears and let out some laughs throughout. I feel connected to these characters almost as if they are stains on my clothing. I am happy to know there is a sequel already out as well as a third book soon to be released, as I cannot get enough.

AGE: 13+
GENRE: Young Adult Fiction, Teen Fiction, Death, Grief, Paranormal, Humor
DETAILS: 239 Pages, Graphic Novel

There is something so delightfully absurd about this book. The premise: we often depict ghosts as sheets…because they are. Sometimes, the sheets are even fancy.

A shy ghost leaves the otherworld to hang out at the coolest place ever: a laundromat. His presence causes all sorts of problems for the laundromat’s only worker, a teen girl who is trying to keep the store going after her mother’s death and her father’s fall into depression.

There’s an over-the-top villain who, if this book was aimed at a couple years up, would give all sorts of Stranger Danger vibes. Still kind of does. The conflict is very black-and-white, and that’s fine. This is a fun, not-so-spooky read that’s great for Halloween time.

The artwork is a bit scraggly, going for a bit of over-emphasized realism instead of cartoonishness. But it’s consistent throughout, and there’s a LOT of detail. There’s not even plain, flat walls; everywhere shows scratches and signs of age, making the world feel lived in (of the opposite, for the otherworld, of course).

A cute friendship, a silly story. I’m glad I finally got around to reading this, after years of it popping up on my radar every Fall!

Reader copy provided by the publisher.

Marjorie has a lot of responsibility- taking care of her little brother and the family business while her father suffers from depression after losing his wife. But Marjorie is also grieving the loss of her mother. When a ghost, Wendell, shows up at the laundromat with his own problems, he and Marjorie begin an unlikely friendship. The world of ghosts is just as lively (pardon the pun) as the world of the living and the villain of the living world is truly villainous.

With beautiful illustrations and a compelling plot full of heart, Sheets is a must-have for middle school library collections.

At first, Sheets seems to jump around and doesn't make a lot of sense, but once the two stories start to intertwine it all comes together. Did I cry a bit at the end? You know I did. I felt for the family; the antagonist annoyed me (which I guess he should have), but I couldn't get passed him. The storyline was great, but I wish it flowed a bit smoother. The ending was perfect. I loved the ghosties and Wendell put a smile on my face for most of the book.

I enjoyed the graphic novel format, but something was missing, I wish I knew what though.

I honestly thought I would love this from the cover. I couldn’t get into the art style for the people but I loved the attention to detail in the scenery and ghost spreads. The colour palette was also lovely.

The story dragged and sadly I just wasn’t that interested in it.

I love graphic novels and I especially loved this one because it's getting me in the mood for Fall and the Halloween season. I think the illustrations were beautiful, the story was easy to follow along and it's definitely a book I think I'll have to buy a physical copy of for myself. Overall, a great reading experience! I'm excited to read the next two books.

Sheets takes place in a cozy yet ambiguous classic American rural town high-spirited for Halloween (both literally and figuratively), focusing on young Marjorie Glatt as she is forced to juggle between grieving her recently passed mother and running the laundry shop she was left with, all while dealing with the business pressure from the ever greedy Mr. Saubertuck among the reluctancy or straight up hostility of the townspeople. In some random ghost town elsewhere, Wendell, a young ghost, is not having it easy either: he's incapable of sharing his life stories, constantly turns down help from other spiritual pals, and runs away to the land of the living, where he meets Marjorie.

To give Sheets the benefit of the doubt, grievance looks different in everyone, and it's common knowledge that many tend to disassociate or have the days pass them by in a blur as they mourn. I think Thummler did a great job portraying it artistically with dialogues few and far between, as well as other various scenes with zero speech bubbles, scenic shots, and POVs of Marjorie's detachment, even though the color choices might be counterproductive style-wise.

I'm a bit disappointed that the pacing of this book is quite scattered, as several details can be pretty... disjointed. As much of a threat that Sauterback is, he doesn't get called out more as he should be, despite the sympathy some claim for Marjorie. The Wendell encounters also only occur past the 100-page mark. The pay-off for a lot of things in this book doesn't feel deserving, and many prominent characters were basically left out (Marjorie's family, Wendell's friends, etc.)

I might be biased for overanalyzing a middle-grade book, but I'm sure my 12-year-old self would have been curious enough to know more about this story, seeing it live up to its full potential.

SHEETS

Rating: 5/5 stars

Thank you NetGalley for gifting me with this free arc in exchange for my honest review.

This children and teenagers’ fictional graphic novel by Brenna Thummler is composed of no chapters and is a dual-narrative between a girl and a ghost. Square boxes are used for thoughts and inner-dialogue, with speech bubbles for communication, undifferentiated sounds from speech, increased brightness for flashbacks, and occasional time-stamps.

Synopsis:
For Marjorie Glatt, the idea of ghosts, or more accurately, being one, is a metaphor for her depression since losing someone dear. She feels she has no real importance, no real future. In charge of her family’s laundromat, she has been forced to grow up early through dealing with her loved one’s death and subsequent painful memories, adult responsibilities, and insensitive, selfish adults themselves. She is determined to hold onto the laundry business despite its difficult competition and others’ sabotage.
Wendell, a ghost in a sheet with poked-out holes for eyes, is highly imaginative and adventurous. However, this means he is also prone to fabrication and irresponsibility. Like Marjorie, he doesn’t fit in with his peers in ghost-therapy, and has also experienced great loss through his death at a young age. He journeys into the forbidden human world for something more, being drawn to Marjorie’s laundry business and her music. Unfortunately, this means he causes countless trouble for Marjorie, albeit unintentionally (which is better than some in this graphic novel). Eventually, this will get him into trouble with Marj and the ghost authorities, but as ever, Wendell is persuasive — and he has a plan to make things right. The question remains: is he someone from Marj’s past?

The target audience for this graphic novel are people who are fans of heartwarming stories, tween narratives, and beautiful illustrations.

This graphic novel is about the power of friendship between Marjorie, the main character, and Wendell, a ghost. There is also importance placed on forgiveness — for those who deserve it — and consequences for every negative action, as would happen in a fair and just world. The positive resolution (along with the ghosts) differentiates this beautifully-illustrated world of colour and detail that reflects both the beauty of childhood and the pain of nostalgia from our own, as does the dreamlike structure of time in Marj’s perspective (as her life is her own nightmare at times), but there is still death and trauma and depression.
The font is realistic for a tween’s writing or voice, showing the perfectionism of Thummler to make each character, whether primary or secondary, humanised and believable. As a result, characters we are supposed to like are extremely likeable and characters we are supposed to dislike are extremely dislikable, demonstrating that Thummler succeeded with her intentions.

This graphic novel completely exceeded my expectations, as the overwhelming positives outweighed the minuscule amount of negatives and I was left feeling heartened, warm, and most importantly: inspired. The best kinds of stories transform you by the final page, as this one does. There is practically nothing I would change. This graphic novel is perfect (according to my own personal tastes).

Three words encapsulate this graphic novel: dreamy, bittersweet, poignant.

— E

super cute. pacing was a bit off and i feel we reach the resolution too quickly. has some quirks but the story is so cute and the illustrations are dope.

4stars but 1 star for that note at the end saying she hates Sharks 😒. Wendell is such a cutie patootie 🙏

I read this one with my teens and tween and they all loved it. A very heartwarming story about a girl about to lose her family business, and getting over the loss of her mother, with a curious ghost who just wants to be her friend.

I loved this book. It was soo cute and a great. Its amazing spooky season read. The plot was everything you needed and the universe was so cute. I hope other people pick this series up.

In the last year I have found a love for taking a break from reading wordy books and jumped into graphic novels and manga. This is the first English graphic novel I have read and WOW it blew my socks off. It talks of grieving and learning how to cope and handle death. This young girl has lost her mother and is faced with her father's depression and running a business all by herself. She does an amazing job of picking herself back up of many frustrating weeks.

I loved the illustrations and cannot wait to read the next one ;)

This was so cute! I loved the artstyle, and specially the color-scheme. It deals with death and grief, and everything that comes with that. And how to survive life as I young girl in this world. And there is ghost 👻. Thank you to Netgalley and Oni press for providing me with a copy.

I really enjoyed the illustrations in this graphic novel. It was very pleasing to observe all the little details and colours.

Overall, I liked the story! There definitely were some parts in the plot that could have been fleshed out more to provide further context. At some points, I had to reread a page or two to keep up as it was quite jumpy in some points. For example, I was so confused when Marjorie was in the checkout line and a character she hadn't interacted with offered to pay for her and referred to it as a 'first date'? I went back and tried to follow and see what I missed but it generally just didn't make sense.

I will continue to read the sequels and I hope the overall writing improves as the series continues.

Thank you NetGalley for the review copy!

Sheets by Brenna Thummler is about loss, family and friendship. It's sad and hopeful at the same time. The art style is stunning! Highly recommend!

(3.5 stars)

Marjorie Glatt is a young girl, still in school, forced to run the family laundromat all on her own after her mother's death. Her father is lost in mourning, and Marjorie is also responsible for looking after her very young brother. Way too much responsibility for a young girl, especially one working through her own grief. What's worse is that a predatory local "businessman" is trying to drive her out of business. Then Wendell, a lonely ghost, shows up. But Marjorie doesn't believe in ghosts...

Illustrated with gorgeous, light-filled colour and delicate but evocative drawings which are full of movement and emotion, Sheets is a beautiful graphic novel about grief, belief, community and learning to move on after tragedy. It approaches the concept of ghosts from a variety of directions: literal, via memory, the way people, like Marjorie's father, can become ghosts while still alive, and how human beings can haunt each other through bullying and other methods, the way Mr Saubertuck fills the laundromat with his own image in an attempt to drive Marjorie's family out. It's very cleverly done. It also touches on the way grief and loneliness can make one feel like a ghost-dislocated and separate from the rest of the world.

The story is engaging and moves through its various stages of sadness, frustration, fear and eventual convergence easily accompanied by the beautiful art. I really felt for Marjorie and Wendell and loved how their stories blended in a way that made them both happier. A fun, moving, clever story that makes one think about grief and community and what it means to be haunted.