I’m starting to get a little bored with this current Lumberjanes pattern: focus on a specific scout who has a personal issue, adventure ensues, friendship lesson is acquired and possibly some personal growth. This time it’s Mal who feels like she’s the scaredy-cat of the group and wants to be braver; the thing I don’t get is why she goes to Ripley the team goof for help. Ripley is totally carefree and runs into everything without thinking; I wouldn’t call that brave, I’d be calling that reckless (if I were being polite); one of the other characters, maybe April- it’s hard to tell who says this) even tells Ripley she doesn’t exactly have brave, she just “ain’t got no sense”. But anyways, Ripley’s plan to help Mal get brave is to scare her repeatedly; things go wrong when Mal gets sucked into a portal to the Land of Lost Things, and has to survive there on her own until the rest of her friends come to rescue her.
The reminder that Molly might have something special to her related to this whole portal to another realm thing is referenced when she (Molly) brings the group to Nellie’s place to find the special telescope, and that sets up some possible continuity which I’m really hoping gets picked up in the next volume in a few ways. I’d just like to see some actual character building, and maybe some more world building to go with it. There’s so much potential with this series, and while there are some good moments in this volume, like when the yettis with whom the gang had a roller derby match several volumes back show up, but the lack of direction is starting to get old. I just want something develop and get seen through at least a little. So much suggestion and promise and all I want is maybe a little more follow through. It doesn’t have to be everything, just a little. Part of the fun of the series is in imagining how some things end up when there’s just enough set up, but lately that’s been missing from the main storyline for the main characters.
