Remember camp? How excited you were for it? How lonely it made you feel? How you couldn't wait to make new friends? How you felt like a total outsider? How you couldn't believe seeing squirrels and rabbits running around your cabin? How you swear you could hear the bears walking in the woods while you were trying to sleep? It's all here, brought to life by some of the nicest art I've seen in years.
— David
While all her other classmates will be spending the summer at expensive summer camps, Vera thinks she’s found the one summer camp her single mother can afford and where she can also fit in: Russian summer camp. What she’s not prepared for is all the "cool girl" drama, endless Russian history lessons, and outhouses straight out of nightmares! Perfect for fans of Raina Telgemeier or Shannon Hale’s Friends series, this graphic novel is full of humor and heart.
— Melanie"Beautifully drawn, brutally funny, brilliantly honest. Vera is such a good cartoonist I almost can’t stand it.” —Raina Telgemeier, author of Smile
In Be Prepared, all Vera wants to do is fit in—but that’s not easy for a Russian girl in the suburbs. Her friends live in fancy houses and their parents can afford to send them to the best summer camps. Vera’s single mother can’t afford that sort of luxury, but there's one summer camp in her price range—Russian summer camp.
Vera is sure she's found the one place she can fit in, but camp is far from what she imagined. And nothing could prepare her for all the "cool girl" drama, endless Russian history lessons, and outhouses straight out of nightmares!
A New York Times Book Reiview Notable Children's Book of 2018
A Boston Globe Best Children's Book of 2018
Selected as the Best Graphic Novel of 2018 by Parents Magazine
"Beautifully drawn, brutally funny, brilliantly honest. Vera is such a good cartoonist I almost can’t stand it.” —Raina Telgemeier, author of Smile
"Perfect for fans of Shannon Hale’s Real Friends (2017), this will easily lodge a place in readers’ hearts, even as it has them rolling in the aisles."—Booklist, starred
"The story, both culturally specific and universal, is a welcome addition to the growing canon of comics tales by talented women cartoonists (Raina Telgemeier, Tillie Walden, Zeina Abirached, Cece Bell, and many others) based on their own lives."—Horn Book, starred
"The dialogue rings true, the pace is seamless, and the panel artwork, in woodsy browns and greens, conveys feelings with clean, assured lines. By turns sardonic, adorable, and noble, Vera is a beguiling hero who learns how to recognize who's really on her side."—Publishers Weekly, starred
"A gorgeous, emotional memoir worthy of any graphic novel collection."—School Library Journal, starred
"While the culturally specific references will particularly resonate with kids of Russian heritage, the larger story will strike chords with any kid who has ever struggled to find a place to belong."—Kirkus
"There’s no real villainy here, just the quotidian slings and arrows carelessly shot by kids more concerned with fun than empathy. That makes Vera a character with appeal to every tween who’s ever felt disappointed by peers—or by a fulfilled wish that didn’t live up to its bright, shiny promise."—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books