The Bawk-ness Monster: 08/09/23

The Bawk-ness Monster by Natalie Riess and Sara Goetter (2023) is a graphic novel about a group of friends trying to say thank you to a cryptid who saved one of them from drowning. In the end of the day they end up having to save the cryptid and a bunch of others too.

A year ago Penny nearly drowned. She was saved by Bessie, a half chicken, half sea serpent. Now she's run out of time because her mother has found a job in a new town and they're about to move. In a last ditch effort to say thank you, Penny manages to convince Mom to take her and her two best friends, Luc and K camping at the lake.

I expected a single joke graphic novel, namely Bessie. But Riess and Goetter have created an alternate world where cryptids are real but they are all different than the ones in our stories. They are delightful combinations of creatures which I shan't spoil here.

This is a novel where there is an adult present, Penny's mother, but her desire to do things like an adult cause a whole set of problems on top of the ones the children and cryptids face. I like too that the cryptids are sentient, capable individuals who can and do help the children in ways that even Penny's mother can't or won't.

This volume is apparently the start of a new series called "Cryptid Kids." I certainly hope that's the case as I am eager to read more.

Five stars

Comments (0)