Things in the Basement is a backlist graphic novel title by Ben Hatke (Zita the Spacegirl, Mighty Jack). It concerns a boy named Milo who is sent to the creepy basement by his mother to retrieve the one pink sock that will make his baby sister stop crying. When Milo sees the sock snatched up by a rat-like creature, he chases it, and discovers that his basement opens up in to many creepy levels, full of monsters, ancient art, and a friendly ghost.
This is a lovely, atmospheric read. It is told with very little dialogue, which my book club kids did NOT respond to – very surprising to me. Maybe they were trying to impress me with their Wordiness. I love a graphic novel that invites you to fill in the gaps. The monster creatures are great – not all are monstrous. They speak with emoji-like images to convey Milo’s understanding them despite their monster-speak. I think the book would be great to give to a kid you’re trying to introduce to D&D, since it requires some storytelling of the reader, and the creatures remind me a lot of ones they run into in the game (mushroom creatures, a jelly-monster, etc).
Milo is illustrated without eyes (he has floppy bangs) but Hatke does great work conveying his reactions and emotions despite that, which would be a great drawing exercise for book clubs run by less exhausted librarians.
I’m not very good at writing my reviews this Cannonball. I’ve used up all my brain juice by the time I get here. But I am reading! So… I’m making that known here! IT HAPPENED!
