Sci-Fi & Scary

I've seen Lumberjanes appear on a few 'best graphic novel' lists, so when I saw it was free on Kindle Unlimited, I decided to see what all the fuss was about. Right away, from the moment I saw the scribbled out line in The Lumberjanes Pledge, I had a feeling I was going to like this book. Unfortunately, I didn't end up liking it quite as much as I'd hoped, but it was still a fun collection!

Each entry into the volume is based around one of the badges that Lumberjanes can earn at camp. I wasn't particularly a fan of the illustrations, but there were a few unexpected ones that wrenched a giggle out of me. (Especially the raccoon holding the wipe your feet sign.) The characters aren't exactly explored during this collection, but you at least get a sense for them. The action is suitably non-stop.

At one point one of the characters says Holy Mae Jemison. I had to look her up. Apparently she was the first African American female to go into outer space. I wasn't expecting to actually learn anything from Lumberjanes, so this made me almost inordinately happy. Soon looking up the names that were dropped became second nature, and it actually took me a bit longer to finish the book than it normally would have because I kept getting distracted by mini biographies.

Lumberjanes definitely feels like a middle-grade read. It says its for grades 5+, but I have a feeling my 8 year old could read it without a problem. It’s simple, with clear graphics that are odd and sometimes creepy but never scary. The individual issues are short and don’t require any thought on the reader’s part.

Overall, while it doesn’t rank as one of my favorite graphic novels I’ve read, Lumberjanes has lots of good points and it is worth checking out for the youngish readers in your household.