Brenna Thummler

After her mother dies and her father sinks into depression, 13-year-old Marjorie Glatts is forced to take over the household chores including looking after her younger brother and running the family Laundromat, all while trying to keep up with school. Nigel Saubertuck, the baddie of the tale, is determined to take over the property and turn it into a five-star spa and yoga retreat and he won’t stop at anything including sabotage to do it.

And, if all this isn’t bad enough, the laundromat show more has attracted a ghost infestation in the form of Wendell, a sweet but rather clumsy middle school ghost. His unintentional mishaps will bring things to a head and unless she can find a solution quickly it looks like Marj will lose everything. Fortunately, she and Wendell come up with a plan to save the day – it just requires little help from Wendell’s fellow ghosts.

The graphic novel Sheets by Brenna Thummler is a little gem of a ghost story- an unusual blend of both heartbreaking and heartwarming. Much of the plot depends on the artwork and, fortunately, it works very well with the story. The muted color palette helps show Marj’s mindset, her overwhelming sadness and the sense that she is just floating through her days like a ghost. The ghosts themselves are depicted as sheets with eyeholes, sort of Halloweenish I suppose but sweet instead of scary.

Sheets is aimed at a middle grade audience but I found it enjoyable and insightful not only for children but for adults. I liked its overall message that no matter how bad things seem, it can get better; we all just need a little help from sympathetic and understanding friends. Sometimes I think this fact is lost on us adults especially where children are concerned – you hear it all the time, they are resilient, they can bounce back quickly from any tragedy. Maybe, but a little help and understanding can go a long way to provide a safe surface for them to bounce back on.

Ok, end of sermon. Sheets is a sweet compassionate story and I recommend it for both children and adults, perhaps especially for sensitive children who perhaps need a little Wendell in their lives.

Thanks to Netgalley and Diamond Book Distributors for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review show less

I'm a lifelong fan of Anne of Green Gables, and I picked this book up for my grandchildren who are a lot likelier to read a graphic novel than a book full of text.

I love this. It is absolutely perfect, starting with a page of small wordless vignettes of the environs of Green Gables, both indoors and out. Before a single word is said or a single character introduced, we're already half in love with Green Gables. Throughout the book, the frames of dialogue are relieved by pages that carry us show more forward through the story without speech. Beautiful.

And I love the way the other girls' fashionable puffed sleeves whisper "puff puff" to Anne's sensitive imagination.

Brenda Thummler missed a few details: the red soil of Prince Edward Island, which colours the dusty roads a shade more vivid than Anne's hair, is missing and the roads are rather brown, and Matthew's dates of birth and death (1850-1918 shown on his tombstone) are far too late. In 1918, as WWI ends, Anne's youngest child is grown up (Rilla of Ingleside). Matthew was likely born in the 1820s and, if Wikipedia is correct and Anne was born around 1865, he probably died in the 1880s.

I'm very glad I bought this book, and if my granddaughter reads this and never gets around to L.M. Montgomery's original, she will still have had a rewarding experience of Anne. show less

(Content warning for bullying and suicide.)

Things have gotten weird for Marjorie since Wendell and his ghost friends helped her save her family's laundry. Over the summer, she and Colton went out on a few maybe-dates, and "Marjie May" eventually got absorbed into his friend group - led by none other than Tessi, her one-time nemesis. Now that she's part of the in crowd, Marjorie is extra-intent on keeping her secret - if anyone finds out that she can see ghosts, her high school rep will show more implode just as it's getting off the ground. The only problem? Even though she's surrounded by people, Marjorie still feels alone.

With his mortal bestie starting eighth grade, Wendell feels left behind. Desperate not to lose his connection to the "real" world, he starts venturing outside the laundromat. This is how he and Marjorie meet Eliza: Mr. Duncan's daughter and ghost hunter/photographer extraordinaire, who was held back last year despite her obvious intelligence. Eliza embraces her morbid, spooky side as enthusiastically as Marjorie tries to blend in. Unsurprisingly, Tessi and her clique descend on Eliza like sharks on a blood trail. Whereas Marjorie felt invisible last year, Eliza feels a little too raw and exposed - she longs for the anonymity of a sheet. When she's pushed to the breaking point, can Wendell and Marjorie come to the rescue in time?

I was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed DELICATES even more than its predecessor, SHEETS. Thummler adeptly captures the ups and downs of middle school (and beyond: not all of these quandaries are exclusive to teenagers!), demonstrating empathy and compassion. I especially wanted to give Wendell a hug (ALL the hugs!), and I thought the ghost dance a brilliant idea. Much as with SHEETS, DELICATES is a celebration of weirdness, in all its forms.

My only complaint is the same with SHEETS: while I mostly found the artwork delightful - beautiful and sometimes a little melancholy - I really don't like how Thummler draws humans. Everyone has the same peculiar piggy nose. Maybe that's why I like Wendell so much - he has no face or body! show less

A solid end to the series. I loved the twin storylines of Wendell's past and Marjorie and Eliza navigating past friendships/frenemies as they prepare to enter high school in the fall. I particularly love Eliza's conversations with her dad and her funny, salty conversations. I also just enjoy the way that we discover these characters, old and new, through episodic moments -- it feels very true to human experience.