Though consistent in tone with its predecessors, in this entry Olive does have some moments of anger (albeit quickly reconciled) her portrayal here is the most human she’s been throughout the series. Olive’s appeal is in her unceasing Pollyanna-like sunniness and her ability to be accommodating and find the best in every situation. Olive and Nat’s relationship is highly idealized, bordering almost on wish fulfillment Nat’s backstory offers some explanation for her behavior, but she is accepted back into the fold more easily than may seem realistic. When Nat finds herself consequently ostracized, empathetic Olive has a change of heart and extends her an olive branch (groan). Relentlessly optimistic Olive tries to stay genial despite Nat’s overt jibes, but when Nat takes it to a new level and ruins Olive’s carefully planned Halloween party, Olive finally confronts her. In her fourth adventure, sixth grader Olive Branche is on top of the world until new girl Natasha begins to encroach on her friendships, slowly and methodically freezing her out of her many different social circles. But that just proves that we create what we want, not what we feel we need to in order to please someone.Can Olive stay positive when a social-climbing bully moves to town? I rarely felt like the illustrations were necessary, only when Olive and her friends were creating something, because that’s always interesting to see. I do however feel like this is the kind of story that would have worked just as well or maybe even better as a regular novel instead of the graphic one. So I was excited to see what Olive and Willow would be up to. I enjoyed this one a little more than the first book because I adore summer camp stories, and having been to day camp when I was a kid, I can tell you that it is a very interesting experience.
Thankfully, the camp monitors are there to help and monitor the whole situation. The girls are drifting apart while at camp and once again Olive struggles to communicate how she feels and to understand Willow’s perspective of things. Olive and Willow are sticking together but Olive wants to branch out a little and try different things, talk to more people, whereas Willow wants to stick with the familiar. Everything is going well in the beginning.
In this companion, she and her good friend Willow are away at camp. In the first graphic novel, she had trouble expressing her creative side and communicating with her friend groups. It was good to spend some time with Olive again. Genres & Themes: Middle Grade, Graphic Novel, Friendship Dynamics, Summer Camps, Social Isolation
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