ELLIE MCDOODLE
Have Pen, Will Travel
by Ruth McNally Barshaw & illustrated by Ruth McNally Barshaw
Forced to go camping in northern Michigan with her three cousins and younger brother, 11-year-old Ellie keeps a copiously illustrated record of the experience, documenting her dislike for the family and the situation, as well as her growing enjoyment by the end of the week. Part journal, part graphic novel and all fun (with echoes of Harriet the Spy), this is a clever account of a growing-up experience that will be familiar to middle-grade readers. When Ellie’s journal is discovered and read by her cousin “Er-ICK” and her Aunt “Ug” (Eric and Mug), she learns something about her aunt and discovers common ground with her cousin. When the four older children get lost in the woods at night, they find ways to work together to rescue themselves. Hand-lettered text supplements black-and-white cartoon-like drawings. Full of maps, wilderness-survival tips and instructions for counting out rhymes and group games, as well as for making an automatic spitball machine, this will be an agreeable summer read. (Graphic fiction. 8-11)