Mary Labatt

Talking dog and mystery lover Sam is back, along with her human friends Jennie and Beth. I looked at the first two books in this series back in 2009 and found them enjoyable and attractive, if a little repetitive of children's mystery tropes. I finally got around to purchasing the earlier volumes for my library and then received the fourth volume for review, so we're going to take another look at this series as a whole.

In their first adventure, Dracula Madness, Jennie, a ten year old girl, show more is miserable because her best friend has moved away, right before summer. Sam, a plump and furry sheepdog is miserable because she’s just been forced to move to a boring little town with no mysteries! But then Sam discovers Jennie is one of the special people she can communicate with and Jennie shows her the spookiest house in town and the mystery hunt is on! With another little girl, Beth, they solve the mystery of strange Mr. McIver – is Dracula really living in his basement?

In Lake Monster Mix-Up, Jennie, Beth, and Sam are staying at the lake. They hear some scary stories about a lake monster and decide to do a little research on their own. To their horror, they discover there really are monsters in the lake – or are there?

Their third adventure is the scariest of all – for Sam. In Mummy Mayhem, Sam is enjoying a peaceful, if boring, winter when she suddenly sees a huge white worm out of her window! Could it really be the mummy of the pharaoh Menopharsib, looking for a white dog to replace his pet dog who was mummified and then stolen? Who is leaving the mysterious – and delicious – beef jerky?

Finally, Sam and the girls team up again in Witches’ Brew to save Jennie from her new, strange neighbors. The girls and Sam are convinced the three sisters are witches, fattening up animals to eat. But Jennie’s mom won’t listen to them and hires them to babysit! Will they escape and save the animals?

These graphic novels are best suited for fans of beginning chapter mystery series like the Boxcar Children but want something with just a little spooky in it. Each mystery turns out to be a simple mix-up – Mr. McIver is an inventor, the lake monsters are scuba divers, the mummy an eccentric neighbor wrapping up against the cold, and the three sisters are animal rehabilitators. But there are plenty of chills along the way, enlivened by Sam’s sassy voice and Jennie and Beth’s wild imaginations.

The black and white panel art is simple, and well-designed for readers who have just moved on from easy readers to beginning chapter books and don’t need too much distraction from the text. All of the text is dialogue, with the action and emotions clearly shown in the art and expressions of the characters. The text is readable and clear, very important for a beginning chapter graphic novel.

Verdict: Add these to your graphic novel collection for kids who are still practicing their reading skills and want to ease slowly into comics without too much visual distraction. These are also a good suggestion for parents who want “calmer” stories and are worried about violence in the regular superhero comics. Boxcar Children meet Scooby-Doo!

Dracula Madness
ISBN: 9781554534180; Published February 2009.
Lake Monster Mix-Up
ISBN: 9781553378228; Published August 2009
Mummy Mayhem
ISBN: 9781554534708; Published September 2010
Witches’ Brew
ISBN: 9781554534722; Published March 2011

Review copies provided by publisher through Raab Associates and/or purchased for my library.

ORIGINAL REVIEW
I actually received the second Sam & Friends Mystery, Lake Monster Mix-Up, for review, but couldn't figure out what was going on with the talking dog, so I dug around and borrowed the first from another library in our consortium.

In the first of these two graphic mysteries, Jennie is sad because her best friend, Sarah, has moved. A new couple has moved into Sarah's house and they don't even have any kids! Instead, they have a big, shaggy sheepdog, Samantha (Sam for short). Jennie and Sam quickly become friends, especially after Jennie discovers she has "the gift" and can hear Sam's thoughts. Sam eggs on Jennie and their new friend, Beth, to discover the mystery of the mysterious Mr. McIver and his creepy house.

In their second adventure, Sam, Beth, and Jennie are off to a boring weekend by the lake. But with Sam along, they quickly discover an old diary and a creepy mystery!

There's nothing particularly new about these stories; both use well-worn plots for children's mysteries; the creepy old hermit who hates people but likes animals and the mysterious lake monster complete with warning from a local. The text is all dialogue and the art is expected to convey all the action and emotions. This leaves quite a few loose ends in both stories; in the first, we never find out how Jennie feels about the complete absence of her old friend Sarah, where Beth came from, or why they weren't friends previously. In the second story, the local's mysterious warning and the clues in the diary peter out into nothing; even the characters wonder at the end what they meant and hint at a possible explanation in a sequel.

Verdict: So, these are boring, cliched stories, right? Nope. They're actually quite good and I enjoyed reading them. The art is black and white with crisp, clean lines and does an excellent job of filling in the story behind the dialogue. Sam provides a dash of humor and a unique hook for the story; Jennie's ability to hear Sam's thoughts is perfectly done and fits naturally into the story. These are excellent mysteries for readers ready for beginning chapters who aren't yet interested in a lot of character development and emotional exploration. These readers will be looking for a story that feels familiar with humor, fun characters, and an exciting plot and these graphic novels are the perfect match. Recommended for juvenile graphic novel collections that include younger readers in their audience.

Dracula Madness
ISBN: 978-1554534180; Published February 2009 by Kids Can Press; Borrowed from the library; Purchased for the library

Lake Monster Mix-Up
ISBN: 978-1553378228; Published August 2009 by Kids Can Press; Review copy provided by the publisher through Raab Associates show less

Sam the puppy sees a monster on television and goes around her house looking for places the monster could be hiding. If you are the parent of a fearful child, this may give them ideas of new places to worry about.

The resolution of the story doesn't really discredit all monsters, by the way, as it veers into what is supposed to be comic mischief with Sam having a misunderstanding about an object she finds in the closet.

Despite her love of cute puppies, this book did not win the approval of my show more own fearful child when she was very young. show less

Puppy Sam wants to try all the food at the party being thrown at her house, but the people keep telling her cake and cookies aren't for dogs. Well, Sam doesn't think dog food is for dogs either, so she get naughty and finds something she can sink her teeth into.

The pictures are cute, which is why my daughter liked this book and the whole series so much when she was in the three- to five-year-old range, but the story is barely there and verging on the annoying with its repetition. Still, it's show more sure to please anyone who doesn't immediately tense up at the thought of puppy mischief like I do. show less

Sam the puppy once again gets into a mischievous adventure, this time sneaking onto a passing school bus and then, with the help of a couple of kids, into a classroom where many messes are made before the teacher catches on.

These Sam books strike me as very generic, with text that has little energy and stories I've seen before in Clifford the Big Red Dog and other dog series.

The cute pictures were enough for my daughter though when she was five. We read these from the library and then had to show more buy them for her later in a Scholastic classroom book order. show less