Summer Vamp

February 19, 2024
Due to a bus mix-up, eight grader Maya—an aspiring chef with light brown skin and expressive anime-esque eyes—is sent to Camp Dracula instead of culinary Camp Umami in Karim’s economical debut graphic novel. She already feels like an outsider in her own home now that her father has announced that his girlfriend, Charlotte, is moving in. Charlotte endears herself to Maya by suggesting that they send Maya to culinary camp for the summer. Maya’s initial excitement falls flat, however, when a fellow camper informs her that they’re on the way to a “regular summer camp”; worse, “garlic is strictly forbidden!” It isn’t until Maya arrives at Camp Dracula that she realizes that she and her campmates have even less in common than she feared. Typical middle school woes rear their ugly head throughout Maya’s stint living as a stealth human among vampires, especially when well-meaning bunkmate Abby’s attempts to help Maya acclimate only makes things worse. Still, Maya’s stay at Camp Dracula proves fruitful as she learns how to speak up for herself and how to accept one’s differences. Seamlessly blending silliness and sentiment, Karim employs confident comic timing and tonal savvy, and clean-lined cartooning marks an enjoyable new talent for middle grade audiences. Ages 8–12.

May 15, 2024
Grades 3-6 Maya loves to cook, just like her favorite chef influencer, Kiki. She's thrilled about attending Camp Umami, a culinary camp, for the summer. But when she gets on the bus, she learns she's heading to the wrong camp, and before she can call her dad, the counselors take away all of the campers' phones. Maya quickly finds herself heading to Camp Dracula, a camp for vampires. She tries everything to get a message out to her dad but has no luck. Before long, though, she discovers she likes her fellow campers and finds a way to adapt to life at Camp Dracula, make friends, and keep the secret that she's actually human. This funny, quirky graphic novel is full of heartwarming moments and touches on themes of friendship, resilience, and acceptance. Karim's bright, colorful artwork is cartoonishly expressive, and readers will enjoy Maya's antics as she tries all sorts of ways to get to Camp Umami--and ultimately decides whether or not it's actually where she wants to be. Hand to fans of Sophie Escabasse's Witches of Brooklyn (2020).

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March 15, 2024
A human girl accidentally ends up at a summer camp for vampires. Maya has had a rough seventh grade year, with no friends and only her passion for cooking to occupy her. On the last day of school, she learns of two surprises: Her dad's girlfriend is going to move in with them (which is big and scary), and she gets to go to a culinary camp (which is a dream come true). When Maya's dad leaves her at the drop-off point, she accidentally gets on the wrong bus. She soon learns that she's on the one headed to Camp Dracula, not Camp Umami. Fortunately, the vampires aren't as scary as they're portrayed to be in human movies--they have sharp teeth, but they eat regular food and only drink animal blood from juice boxes--and Maya's cabinmates are mostly pretty nice. Maya tries to hide the fact that she's a human, but she slowly learns to advocate for herself and make friends, and she even gets to practice some cooking. This well-executed graphic novel explores the valuable theme of finding people who will welcome, support, and stand up for us despite our differences. One of Maya's vampire cabinmates also learns how to notice the impact of her words on others. The mix of humor and tween awkwardness makes for a sincere story. Karim's colorful art is bold and animated. Maya and her father have brown skin and hair; there's racial diversity among the supporting cast members. Delightful. (Graphic paranormal. 8-12)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from May 1, 2024

Gr 5-8-As if it wasn't bad enough that Maya's dad's girlfriend is going to move in with them, Maya realizes too late that the summer camp she's attending is not the culinary camp that was promised, but one filled with vampires, instead. Will they want to suck her blood? Fortunately, the campers haven't yet figured out that Maya is human, and to Maya they're surprisingly normal. They wear extra sunscreen, drink their blood boxes, and have an unhealthy attachment to their phones, but still want to make friends. With all the humor a middle grade graphic novel can pack into a summer camp story about friendship, Karim's debut is superb. Maya's predicament is anything but ordinary, but she finds ways to overcome obstacles, and even if it wasn't what she wished for, she is happy for the experience that builds resiliency. The lightheartedness underscores changes in Maya's life that are realistic, even in the fantasy setting. Karim's expressive characters allow plenty of space for the dialogue and movement to meld perfectly into one another on the page and between panels, highlighting the situations and settings in an appealing way. VERDICT A romp of a summer camp story that isn't to be missed.-Alicia Abdul

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