Long Distance

Vega and her family are relocating from Portland to Seattle due to her father’s new job. Vega isn’t looking forward to moving to Seattle and leaving her best friend, Halley. Vega’s Dad convinces her to attend a summer camp so she can make some new friends in Seattle. Bummed and hesitant, Vega reluctantly agrees to attend Camp Very Best Friend. Vega starts to befriend Qwerty (a tech whiz), Gemma, and Isaac (rock collectors), but strange things start to happen at camp.

I thought Long Distance was just going to be about Vega and Halley’s long-distance friendship, but it turned out to be more than just that. I was not prepared for a sci-fi graphic novel. I had my daughter read it as well, and she was also surprised by the sci-fi elements in the story. I’m not a huge sci-fi fan per se, but I did like how the author tied in the sci-fi parts with the story about friendship and fitting in. I love graphic novels that make boring subjects interesting so I appreciated how the story incorporated some astronomy facts. Readers who love stories about friendship and sci-fi fans would love this middle-grade graphic novel.