Les sorcières de Brooklyn, Tome 03: Vacances magiques

Witches of Brooklyn #3

by Sophie Escabasse (Translator), Sidonie Van den Dries

C'est l'été ! Les tantes d'Effie l'envoient au camp Raton-laveur, une colonie de vacances pour jeunes sorcières et sorciers. L'occasion pour Effie de développer le pouvoir de la Main Verte, sa connexion magique avec la nature.

Mais les vacances se révèleront bien plus mouvementées que prévu : entre disputes, cachotteries, nature, dragons et pouvoirs déchaînés, les vacances d'Effie ne seront pas de tout repos, mais elles n'en seront pas moins magiques !

Antépénultième volet de la série Les Sorcières de Brooklyn, Vacances Magiques est un concentré d'action et de magie, porté par l'humour et le crayon de Sophie Escabasse.
Comme toujours, Effie est une héroïne attachante à laquelle le lecteur n'aura aucun mal à s'identifier tandis qu'elle affronte les tracas de l'adolescence et les monstres magiques.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Middle Grade, Magic, Witches, Childrens, Comics

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 6, 2022

About the author

Sophie Escabasse is a French author and illustrator who lives in Montreal with her husband and three children, and their black cat, Terrence. She has illustrated many books for middle-grade readers, including Florence Parry Heide and Roxanne Heide Pierce’s Spotlight Club Mysteries series and the Freestyler Funnies series by Tom Easton. She has been a graphic novel lover for as long as she can remember, and she enjoys fun and expressive characters.

Reviews

[ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little disappointed as books #1-2 I absolutely adored.

Book #3, unfortunately, falters and had too many storylines in one that was rushed through. This felt like a book that needed to be split into two parts to address the dilemmas of Effie, Henry, and the surprise reveal at the camp.

It still was cute and touched a little at my heart, more so due to the nostalgia that it brings, this one because of the sleep-away camp that I also attended as an 11-year-old and the nerves of learning how to swim.

Overall, the artwork and dialogue are wonderful, but I wanted much more of this story, rather than the surface summary that was given.

[Belles Middle Grade Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read these so fast, & I loved every single second. I’m so sad I don’t have any more to read. I’m not sure if this is the last & it will just be a trilogy, or if there will be more..but wow I’m happy I read these. This 1 has a whole new location. An awesome witchy summer camp, that’s really focused on nature. Effie will be away from her friends & aunts. Effie isn’t too thrilled about going, but adventure, magic, & mayhem follow her no matter where she is..& this time is no different lol. The “panda” was such a terrific addition, & I loved the whole story there. I love the friends she makes at camp, & seeing what different magical gifts the kids had. Loved Checkers High too. I want to play! Effie is a total mood, vibe, everything. Her shirt that says, “NO SLEEP TILL BROOKLYN” is phenomenal! lol These are full of friendship, magic, adventures & misadventures, found family, & believing in yourself. Great messages throughout the series. Highly recommend. This 1 comes out this Tuesday, September 6th. Once again, BEAUTIFUL artwork by the author Sophie Escabasse.💜

[eva ⚘ · Rating 5 out of 5]

can't believe my comfort series came to an end 🤧💔 brb gotta re-read the entire trilogy to cope

[Marie the Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh this series is just so wonderful, original and lovely! I love the magic and the message it sends. Love the illustrations.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s just wild, not a quiet minute with Effie around! Super fun

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will never tire of these books. I love the illustrations and I love the characters. And I love that they don't dumb anything down for kids. Perfection all three of them.

[Ainara Onzain Sarrias · Rating 4 out of 5]

Només tinc ganes de tenir un bebé perquè es faci gran i poder-li regalar els llibres i que en gaudeixi :)) les il·lustracions aaaaaaaa m'encanta tot

[Suzanne Dix · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fun continues! A highly recommended series.

Grades 4 and up.

[EuleAnnalena · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was once again really fun and adorable! I still love the main characters, the art and the story as a whole!

I liked the take on how to deal with people making fun of you/picking on you (I don’t necessarily want to call it bullying in this context, but this might also apply then!).

There were a lot of new characters and to me this unfortunately made them feel a little underdeveloped. Also, the whole arc about the dragon felt a little rushed.

Otherwise: I really enjoyed joining Effie on her summer holidays spent in a witches camp!

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book three in the Witches of Brooklyn series. We are following Effie as she sent to a month long summer camp for witches to connect with nature. While there she makes friends, fasces a challenge, and learns that she a very strong green thumb. This is a cute story, that I like quite a bit because of the witchiness and quirky characters. I look forward to reading more when the next edition comes out next year, hopefully!

[Jules Inman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so cute! Effie heads off to a magic summer camp. She becomes one with the nature and has the gift of speaking to the trees. She has to deal with the “mean girl” who is an attention seeker and is jealous of Effie’s magical talents. Effie overcomes her fear of swimming as well as resolving a big issue that comes up. I loved the camp vibes in this.

[Hunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really adorable, although I still don't know how the panda helped improve the plot. Maybe it'll come more to light in the next volume.

[Bill Mock · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this graphic novel series. Full of life lessons, fun, and love.

[Emily T · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my fav book out of all of them 😍 They have so much amazing friendship 🤩

[Evelyn Phipps · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a really great book, but there’s a few things I’d like to mention. For one, the book is called, Witches Of Brooklyn: S’More Magic, but they only eat s’mores ONE time in the whole book. Two, I thought they were going to camp to study plants, but now there’s a shapeshifter, water bender, and everybody has these unique magic powers? Like I thought the whole point of camp was to see if you get your green thumb and to do fun activities. Three, it’s supposed to be about flora, right? Not fauna so why is there a dragon? I mean the dragon is cool and all but I thought it was about plants,activities,and green thumbs. Four, I didn’t actually think their hands would become green. It’s really cool, but I thought they were called green THUMBS. Also isn’t Having a green thumb just mean you’re good at gardening? Anyways, I would recommend this book. But read the 2 books before this one, Witches Of Brooklyn and Witches Of Brooklyn: What The Hex?!

[Mary Havens · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is giving me Lumberjane vibes with it’s summer camp setting and magical abilities, including a heartbroken wizard panda :)
Love the artwork in this series and all the different magical abilities.
Humorous, heartfelt, and just plain fun! Looking forward to book 4 :)

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love love love this series! Check it out

[Stephanie Reese · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series continues to be so cute. I felt like I picked this up at the perfect time as summer is just around the corner. I liked the plot more in this one than What the Hex?

[Mallory · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series 😍

[Sarah Hackbarth SavedByStacks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun bedtime read aloud with Claire! :)

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Library copy

Effie isn't thrilled to spend a month at camp in the woods away from her friends, but makes the best of it. She also has to deal with a friend of her aunts, Henry, who spent a long time as a panda bear in order to get over some emotional trauma. Quirky and unusual, like the other books in the series.

[Kayla Zabcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

81%

much better than the sequel. I enjoyed the deeper dive into magic's mechanics and how it manifests through different people. the ending was strangely abrupt, though.

[Bérénice]

désolée de spammer avec cette série mais pas désolée d’être fan

[Piyali · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this series a lot.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is up with these tween graphic novel series all needing a summer camp book? It's not the universal experience everyone makes it out to be. That made me initially hesitant to get into this one, and it started slowly...only to get more interesting as you go. After the first quarter to third of the book, it picks up. Like I say with all books like this, especially magic stories, I'm a little tired of just how big they get in the third act. But at least this one managed to find its resolution anchored in something small. It was a nice touch.

Not to give it away, but it's not a summer camp book that ends with a return home and report to the friend group about what happened. Which makes me hope that we get another book in this setting, instead of the usual one-off that all those other series do. Sure, I don't care for the camp thing usually. However, if the author treats it as something more than what appears to be on the tween graphic novel checklist, then I can get behind that. Maybe give at least one of the new characters, other than Sonia and her misplaced spite, a chance at actually having a distinguishing personality.

[McKenzy Hupke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ll really never want this series to end. 😍

[Emily Watkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

so much fun love the series

[Kasi · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books just make me happy ❣️

[mad mags · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summer has come to Brooklyn, and eleven-year-old witch-in-training Effie Huchbolt-Walloo is absolutely distraught to be separated from her best friends for the next month. Oliver is attending a robotics day camp; Berrit is off to a sleepaway camp in upstate New York; Garance is visiting her grandmother in France; and Selimene and Carlota are sending Effie to Raccoon Camp, designed to help young witches foster a connection with nature (though of course she can't tell Berrit and Oliver as much!).

As if this isn't bad enough, on her first day of summer vacation, Effie awakens to find a panda named Henry in her bed! (Being a witch is nothing if not exciting.)

Turns out that Henry is Carlota's nephew - and the previous resident of Effie's room - who had been living in the Bronx Zoo for the past year, ever since heartbreak transmogrified him into a panda. Now he's the newest camp counselor at Camp Raccoon (and Effie's de facto safety blanket).

Unsurprisingly, Camp Raccoon is every bit as awesome as Selimene and Carlota promised, with two glaring exceptions: the lake (Effie can't swim!), and resident mean girl, Sonia. Though - spoiler alert! - Effie conquers the former, will the latter prove to be her undoing when a game of truth or dare goes awry?

The WITCHES OF BROOKLYN series is absolutely charming, and S'MORE MAGIC is no exception. Escabasse introduces us to a plethora of new characters (Henry the panda, and his crush/fellow camp counselor, Moji; Effie's new witch friends, Cora and Ivan; Gertrude the oak; and Fiona and Beecher, the camp's "eco-militant" founders), while still giving us cameos from those we've come to know and love (Lion, Carlota, and an impossibly fierce Selimene).

The concept of a "green thumb" and expanding one's power by tapping into the flow of shared energy is pretty great too; right now, I'm halfway through Season 3 of HARLEY QUINN, and it's giving vibes of Ivy trying to access the shared consciousness of the plant world ("the green") in order to save Frank (though in a much more PG rated way, obvs). And the denouement - which, spoiler alert!, involves a dragon - is *chef's kiss* perfect.

I didn't totally love the resolution with Sonia - but, then again, if Effie had managed to befriend yet another enemy, I'd probably just complain that it was unrealistic (*shrug*).

[寿理 宮本 · Rating 5 out of 5]

My library's system has this book rated 2/5 stars. BOO! Whoever was hating clearly can't appreciate a nice wholesome story about overcoming your fears, with a bonus heartwarming treat of finding the good in your "enemy" at the very end! If only more stories had those kinds of endings, vs. the "Good is Good and Evil is Evil and never the twain shall meet" kind of thing people get hung up on *in real life,* where Good and Evil depends almost entirely on perspective.

The story is maybe a little harder to follow if you haven't read the series, but it seems easy enough to pick up. I only sort of remember stuff from the prior books, but I could get enough from context to follow the story. That's about the only reason I can think of that this book in specific would be disliked, if "guy who turned into a panda" is a bridge too far.

Overall, I love the messages about
- there's nothing wrong with not knowing something, except refusing to learn
- running from your fears is worse than facing them
- teasing can only hurt you if you give bullies that power over you
- you can find good in ANYONE!*
and other little subtle lessons that work so well in younger reader books! Definite recommend for fans of witchcraft!

*I reserve the right to retract this when speaking about politics, though