 | Delicates (Sheets) Author: Thummler, Brenna | |
| Price: $12.29 | ||
Summary:
Marjorie Glatt's life hasn't been the same ever since she discovered a group of ghosts hiding in her family's laundromat. Wendell, who died young and now must wander Earth as a ghost with nothing more than a sheet for a body, soon became one of Marjorie's only friends. But when Marjorie finally gets accepted by the popular kids at school, she begins to worry that if anyone learns about her secret ghost friends, she'll be labeled as a freak who sees dead people. In graphic novel format.
| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: UG Reading Level: 2.80 Points: 1.0 Quiz: 512835 |
Full Text Reviews:
School Library Journal - 01/01/2021 Gr 8 Up—In Sheets, Thummler explored teenage social dilemmas, grief, and even class conflict within the bounds of a haunted Laundromat. Her follow-up matches the tone and complexity of its predecessor. Marjorie, a white teen who in Sheets grappled with bullying and being forced to step up after the death of her mother, is gaining confidence at school while remaining friends with Wendell, one of the sheet-shaped ghosts at her family's laundry business. In the span of a few tentative encounters, however, the book pivots to the story of her classmate Eliza, a Black teen who is sinking into loneliness and depression and feeling like a living ghost. Marjorie must weigh whether to help a peer and risk her own social status, while Eliza faces the task of claiming her own strangeness so as to not lose her sense of self. Thummler's shaky, slightly elongated figures interact in muted neon illustrations, conveying adolescent emotion. With illustrations that match the often dreamy, multilayered narrative, this tale depicts the interplay between inner turmoil and external pressures with an aching accuracy that provides a powerful lens readers might use to observe their own difficult experiences. VERDICT A strong second foray into Marjorie and Wendell's slightly spooky world, this tale will be best appreciated by readers who can maturely manage difficult content about depression and suicidal thoughts.—Emilia Packard, Austin - Copyright 2021 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
Booklist - 02/01/2021 In this sequel to Sheets (2018), summer is coming to a close for Marjorie and Wendell, her ghost friend, but going into eighth grade has Marjorie a little uneasy. She spent all of seventh grade a social outcast, and this year, Tessi and her friends have made it their mission to make Marjorie popular. The eighth grade class also has a repeater student—Eliza, the daughter of a teacher, Mr. Duncan. Eliza is obsessed with photographing a ghost, even as she increasingly feels like one among her peers. Meanwhile, Wendell is feeling rather ignored, and when sneaking out, he often runs into Eliza, who doesn’t recognize him as a ghost. Thummler’s illustrations showcase a pastel palette that nicely evokes the late summer atmosphere. Beautifully drawn environments, full of fine-lined detail and dappled light, make great backdrops to the stylized character designs. This title encapsulates the rockiness of navigating friendships and troubled emotional states of middle school, with a dash of friendly paranormal elements to lighten the mood. Hand to fans of Laura Lee Gulledge's The Dark Matter of Mona Starr (2020). - Copyright 2021 Booklist.
