Sheets V01 by Brenna Thummler is an enjoyable story. It is a graphic novel that incorporates interesting ideas of life and death. The here and the afterlife have much in common. There are rules, groups, and even laundry. Thummler’s theme in 1997-1998 might have been fresher then, but now is slightly dated. We have seen the issues with family, friendships, not fitting and dealing with the everyday. Yet, this book is still a cozy read that works well for ages 10 and up.
Marjorie is a 13-year-old who hates laundry and ghosts. Ghosts because they are not real, and laundry because it is too real. Her life is school, lack of friends and running her family’s laundromat with its demanding customers and Mr. Saubertuck who is more annoying than stains on your favorite outfit. When Wendell, a young ghost from the other side, causes trouble, Marjorie learns that a little help from someone who might be an eleven-year-old-boy-now-ghost might be the thing she has been looking for. When nefarious plots are uncovered, it is up to these two unlikely friends to make everything come out in the wash.
The illustrations are in a typical graphic novel, with the cartoon theme and coloring. Nothing is “bold”, but nothing is truly lacking either. Details are simple but fill the page and show the action and the tone of the story. There are no chapter breaks, nor is there notice that the story of Marjorie and Wendell has switched to the other point of view, except that Marjorie’s world is with color and Wendel’s has a black-gray-blue-white mixed tone.
I do not always reread a story I feel “so-so” about, but this is the type of book that deserves a second chance, as I think there might be somethings missed the first time.
