Brain Camp

August 23, 2023 By lybfg

I was curious about this summer camp mystery for two reasons: as a former kid genius, I loved the idea of a story set among smart kids, and I very much delight in the work of artist faith Erin Hicks (Zombies Calling, The war at Ellsmere). The second, at least, was not disappointing.

Perhaps I’d created the wrong impression in my head about brain Camp, written by Susan Kim and Laurence Klavan, but I was let down. The “creating prodigies” aspect of this particular camp was downplayed and ultimately unnecessary to the story — the kids could have been brainwashed for any number of reasons and the story would work the same way. The smarts are only on view when needed as a plot device. Also, I’d seen this particular idea before as an episode of doctor Who, the one where Anthony Head guest-starred.

There’s something wrong at Camp Fielding. Campers seem to be vomiting up feathers and collapsing. because Jenna doesn’t achieve enough to satisfy her parents, and Lucas is turning into a baby criminal, their respective parents jump at the chance to send their kids to the camp regardless of the conditions.

The best part of the book is the natural way Jenna and Lucas’ antipathy turns to grudging friendship and then more. (Be warned: in this story, love actually does save the day.) the worst part is the cartoonish threat. It’s apparent early on that something horrific is going on, and I found myself wishing they’d get to it faster.

There’s too much time spent on apparent points and characters that go nowhere — bitchy girl, bully young boy — while not discussing bits I was curious about, like just how much the counselors knew and why they went along with poisoning the kids. The much more reasonable moments — as when Jenna gets her first period while away — are the best part of the book, but they seem to be there in spite of the plot, not to support it. There’s an overall lack of cohesion, leaving me wanting much more of the pieces that had nothing to finish with the story while not particularly enjoying the predictable main plot.

Stories about summer camp have been popular for years in comics, possibly to distract kids being sent off or to show those at home what they’re not missing. This is certainly one of the latter, an erratically paced suspense plot that will convince anybody that camp is a bad idea, especially given the way the parents are shown to care much more about test scores than their kids. then again, kids who are miserable and homesick might appreciate seeing a story about how much worse it could be.

I did like the smart way the book’s front flap, which typically includes sell copy, was mostly pictures selected from inside. (You can see what I imply here.) That’s the kind of “about this book” much more graphic novels ought to use. (The publisher offered a review copy.)

Brain Camp

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