Be Prepared
A Graphic Novel
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- ¥1,200
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- ¥1,200
発行者による作品情報
A sharp, funny, and deeply relatable graphic memoir from acclaimed creator Vera Brosgol, Be Prepared is a coming-of-age story about fitting in, standing out, and surviving the chaos of expectations.
All Vera wants is to fit in with her friends—but that’s not so easy when 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. So when she finally gets invited to a summer camp with other Russian kids, she expects to find belonging at last.
Instead, she finds herself dropped into an unfamiliar world of rigid rules, awkward social dynamics, and outdoor survival challenges that are far from the cozy summer she imagined.
From mosquito-filled forests to competitive camp traditions and constant uncertainty about where she belongs, Vera quickly realizes that “fitting in” might be harder—and stranger—than she ever expected.
With humor, honesty, and striking visual storytelling, Be Prepared explores:
- anxiety, awkwardness, and growing up
- friendship, exclusion, and self-acceptance
- the gap between expectation and reality
"Beautifully drawn, brutally funny, brilliantly honest. Vera is such a good cartoonist I almost can’t stand it.” —Raina Telgemeier, author of Smile
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Unlike her debut, Anya's Ghost, Eisner-winner Brosgol's second graphic work is a summer camp memoir set in the real world. Without fantasy elements to distract, execution is crucial, and Brosgol delivers. Vera, Brosgol's nine-year-old self, is a wide-eyed Russian immigrant kid desperate to fit in with her suburban classmates. They all go to camp every summer, and when she finds out about a Russian Orthodox camp that her family's church will help pay for, she talks her mother into letting her go. It doesn't take her long to realize that she's wished for the wrong thing. Mean girls, stinking outhouses, and baffling camp traditions make her first weeks miserable. Triumphs come, but not before she undergoes moments of humiliation that are both funny and cringeworthy ("Is that candy?" Vera asks her older tentmates about a pack of maxi-pads). 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. Ages 10 14.)
