Spy Camp The Graphic Novel, resistance is futile, read and enjoy

Recently I was surprised to find out that Enola Holmes was a series of books before it was a Netflix movie and before it was a graphic novel. To some folks, I realize that fact sets my surprise barometer rather low, akin to the water is wet crowd. For upper elementary, through middle school readers the Spy School series of books by Stuart Gibbs is a bulletproof vehicle for fun, fast-paced reading that helps those ages fall in love with literature. When Spy School The Graphic Novel came out I was less than impressed. As the series of mglit books goes, so goes the graphic novels and Spy Camp The Graphic Novel is upon us. And perhaps it took the Enola Holmes graphic novel to brush off our burs, but Spy Camp The Graphic Novel is an entertaining and fun book.

It’s summer, and spy-in-training Ben Ripley is ready for classes to be over. Just as class is ending he’s summoned to the principal’s office and given the news that he has to go to summer camp. Being a middle school student, as well as an erstwhile spy has benefits for sure, but he’d really like a break, maybe get a summer job or relax. His principal, however, has other ideas and requests his presence during a surveillance job. To keep things consistent with the normal chaos in his life, he has a taunting message from SPYDER and his camp counselor is the older brother of a friend who really doesn’t like him.

The surveillance at an amusement park goes awry in short order, with Ben’s nemesis, Murray Hill surprising him while he’s in the batting cage. This all can’t be a coincidence and his attempt to catch Hill, who should be in juvenile spy jail, quickly flounders with him escaping in a black sedan. With the subplot firmly in motion, the group sets off to a remote forest for spy camp. They’ll practice physical fitness, code-breaking, bomb-making and other spy skills, with some of the campers using their skills for real.

Spy Camp The Graphic Novel manages to capture the wit, charm and zip of the mglit book series. As I was remembering the novels I came to a possible realization. Could it be that perhaps my lack of enjoyment in Spy School The Graphic Novel, was simply because that book wasn’t as good as the rest in the series? The Spy School book series is quite unique because their level of quality hasn’t wavered, even as they’ve entered double digits in terms of releases.

It’s possible that the more you see the characters, know their foibles, and appreciate the dynamics between them, the better they appear in a graphic novel. It’s not a case where you’re begrudgingly sharing characters that you discovered in a novel, but are now allowing others to read them in a graphic novel.

I think it’s due to the fact that the Spy School books got better as you read each one of them. Because of that, it only stands to reason that the graphic novels based on those books will follow the course. Spy Camp The Graphic Novel captures the humor, zip, and social awkwardness that teens will have, but adds the action and espionage to have things operate on a slightly older level. Adults or yalit readers won’t mistake this for something that’s aimed at them, but if they’re interested in a breezy, fun graphic novel then they’ll gamely follow along.

Much like those who never knew that Enola Holmes existed as a book or that Jon Bon Jovi was a rock star before he was an actor in Young Guns 2; Spy Camp The Graphic Novel could open up a whole new world to fans.  Just like the source material, this graphic novel has only gotten better since the one that preceded it and leaves audiences wanting more. It’s the go-to kind of graphic novel that fourth graders will pick up and won’t be able to put down.  

Spy Camp The Graphic Novel is by New York Times Bestselling Author Stuart Gibbs with illustrations by Anjan Sarkar and is available on Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.

There are affiliate links in this post.