Miss Camper: A Graphic Novel

Sue Gutiérrez #2

by Kat Fajardo

A companion to Miss Quinces, Kat Fajardo's bestselling, award-winning middle-grade graphic novel!

Sue is heading to Camp Willow with her friends for two whole weeks this summer! She’s looking forward to hiking, archery, and making some comics in the fresh air. She’s especially excited about LARPing (live-action roleplaying), and can’t wait for the freedom that comes with being away from home. But she won’t be far from her family’s watchful eye because her big sister, Carmen, is a camp counselor and her little sister, Ester, will be a camper! All Sue wants is to spend quality time and make memories with her friends, but Ester won’t give her any space and Sue can’t escape the responsibility of having to look after her. On top of that, it turns out that Sue and her friends won’t be assigned to very many of the same activities. To make matters even worse, her best friend, Sam, has a best camp friend named Marisol? And Sue’s good friend Izzy has a crush on Sue?! This summer isn’t at all going as planned!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Comics, Family, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Friendship

272 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2025

About the author

Kat Fajardo (they/she) is a Honduran Colombian award-winning cartoonist and illustrator from the lively and magical place of Loisaida, New York City.

They are the creator of Miss Quinces, which was a National Indie Bestseller, received a Pura Belpre Honor for illustration, two starred reviews, and was selected as a summer reading pick by Entertainment Weekly, Publishers Weekly, The Horn Book, and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. It was also added to the The Spirit of Texas (SPOT) Reading Program by the Texas Library Association. It was the first Graphix title to be simultaneously published in English and Spanish (as Srta. Quinces).

They are a graduate of the School of Visual Arts, and their work has been recognized by online publications such as Remezcla, El Hispanic News, School Library Journal, Huffington Post Latino Voices, and more. Kat loves to create playful and colorful work about self-acceptance and Latine culture.

When they aren’t making comics, you might find them collecting small junk for scrapbooking, listening to spooky podcasts, or chasing after their sock-stealing pups, Mac and Roni. Kat lives in Austin, Texas. Visit them online at katfajardo.com.

Reviews

[Bookishrealm · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think anyone is as shocked as me.

Miss Camper is the follow up to Miss Quinces which I absolutely loved and adored. Unfortunately, this particular installment didn't work as well for me. With that being said, I'm not the intended audience and I think that it does cover themes that middle grade readers will enjoy including grief, friendships, first crushes, and complicated family dynamics. As always, Kat Fajardo knocked it out the pack with the illustrations.

[Rachel Aranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5-5 stars

This is a companion novel to “Miss Quinces” So I had high hopes for enjoying this graphic novel by Kat Fajardo. Those hopes were thankfully met as I really enjoyed my time reading. So much so I binged this book in one day, which is hard to do with an infant. It’s making me want to reread “Miss Quinces” so I can stay in Suyapa’s world a little longer.

[Tia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Read

A story for all ages. Loved the first and this one didn’t disappoint. It’s an entertaining fast paced read. Beautiful imagery

[TheNextGenLibrarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

The follow up to Miss Quinces by @katfcomix
🏕️
Sue is headed to Camp Willow for two weeks of fun with friends in the great outdoors. As a city girl, the upstate New York camp is a new experience for Sue, but she has her family there to help because Carmen is a camp counselor and her annoying little sister, Ester, needs watching. After a few days it’s clear Sue can’t escape Ester and one of her friends told Sue he had feelings for her. Not to mention her best friend has buddied up with someone else at camp. This summer is not turning out at all like Sue wanted!
🏹
Miss Quinces is super close to my heart since it’s a title I helped put on the Texas Maverick Graphic Novel Reading list and so when I saw there was going to be a follow up, I was thrilled. What a great choice for my 1st book for 2025! This MG graphic novel hits lots of different themes, without overloading the reader. The artwork is my kind of preference for graphic novels because I know how much it resonates with my middle schoolers. This one is going to FLY off the shelves when it releases July 1!

CW: grief, death of a grandparent (recounted), anxiety

[Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story of three sisters and one best friend going to the same camp. The little sister is REALLY annoying - says the oldest daughter haha. Great illustrations and positive messaging.

[Melanie Dulaney · Rating 3 out of 5]

A companion to Fajardo’s Miss Quinces, this solid graphic novel choice for grades 3-6 places Suyapa/Sue Gutierrez and her younger sister Ester at summer camp for the first time. Sue’s goal is to spend as much time as possible with best friend Sam, but with her little sister insisting on tagging along wherever she goes and Sam’s best “camp” friend taking up much of Sam’s times, her plans seem to be falling apart. Insert unwanted attention from friend Izzy who confesses that he is would like to move from friend to boyfriend in Sue’s eyes, not getting placed in many of the same camp activity groups as Sam and seemingly “failing” at many of those activities.

Fajardo’s cast of characters is diverse in every way, representing many cultures, body types, interests, and gender pronouns. The situations that Sue finds herself in, unwanted attention, a bossy older sister, clingy younger sister, difficulty learning new things, plans going awry and being away from her mom for the first time are relatable to readers in the target audience and the ways she copes with them demonstrates excellent examples for them to emulate. However, some of the conversations between Sue and Izzy as they share honest emotions feel contrived, stilted and not very representative of the way teens would speak. Additionally, Sue has earlier celebrated her quinceanera making her 15, but her actions and speech, and those of her friends, come across as much younger, a detail that may not be of any significance to the pre-teens reading this, but hovered in my mind as I read.

All in all, MISS CAMPER will be appealing to the younger middle grade crowd and should be considered for part of a library collection, whether school, home, public or classroom, especially if there is readership of graphic novels by Terri Libenson, Svetlana Chmakova and Christina Soontornvat.

Thanks for the print arc, Scholastic and the 2025 Texas Library Association annual conference.

[Elizabeth]

I personally feel it should NOT have been Sue’s responsibility to look after Ester. Though they are sisters, at camp, it’s the responsibility of the camp counselors to look after each of their campers. Let children be children and have the adults and people in charge do what they are supposed to do.

[The Loco Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute story about sisters who go to camp and learn how to deal with things not always going the way you thought they would.

Content Warning: The characters do introduce themselves with their pronouns and many children in this book say they are "they" or "them"; boyfriends/girlfriends/crushes

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

E ARC Provided by Edelweiss Plus

Sue, whose adventures with her family in Honduras were covered in Miss Quinces, is finally allowed to go to a two week sleep away camp in Upstate New York with her friends. Her older sis ter Carmen will be a counselor, and her younger sister Ester is going along as well. Her friend Same is also attending, and the two are in the same cabin. Their counselor is Minji, and Sam's friend Marisol is there as well. All of the campers introduce themselves by their pronouns, and there are a wide variety of identifications among both the counselors and campers. While there are some traditional camp activities like archery, bracelet making and being outside, there are also Live Action Role Playing Workshops. A culminating activity in a carnival. Sue has to deal with Ester being very clingy, some light friend drama, and whether or not she "like likes" Izzy, who wants her to be his girlfriend. The author includes pictures of herself at summer camp in the early 2000s, as well as a note about how much it influenced her life.

There have been a number of graphic novels about summer camp lately (Miller's Stuck, Agarwal and Durfey-Lavoie's Sink or Swim, Karim Summer Vamp, LaMotte and Xu's Unhappy Camper, Smith, Tanner, and Gomez's Absolute Zeros: Camp Launchpad, Mercado's Chunky Goes to Camp), and this is another solid entry, but it felt like I was missing a LOT of information. In Miss Quinces, Sue's mother was against her going to camp, and I wasn't sure how her sister ended up as a counselor. Readers who liked the first book and want more of Sue's story will enjoy this one.


https://msyinglingreads.blogspot.com/...

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fajardo herself had the opportunity to attend a summer camp and those are the experiences that she drew on to tell the story of the characters in the story, attending summer camp and experiencing the highs and lows of friendship and first romance as well as family dynamics and loyalty with a particularly empathetic look at our main character admitting to the boy who gave her a charm that she really didn't like him that way but that he was still interested in being friends. It was an example of how a positive conversation can go for readers to understand that they can speak their mind and even though it hurts, stay true to yourself.

It was a particularly painful one to read today because just a few days ago hundreds of (especially) young girls were swept up in a flash flood in Texas at Camp Mystic with dozens dead found downriver wrapped up in debris when the storm moved in overnight.

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this companion graphic novel to Miss Quinces, Sue is leaving the city for two weeks and heading to the great outdoors! She has big plans for her summer, including spending time with her friends while they experience all the amazing things that Camp Willow has to offer. Things don’t completely go her way as she navigates new experiences and is expected to keep an eye on her younger sister.

This graphic novel is a good fit for libraries and classrooms serving upper elementary and middle schoolers. Readers are presented with a diverse group of characters and coming of age/middle grade themes. Miss Camper is a great read alike for fans of Kayla Miller, Raina Telgemeier, Molly Knox Ostertag, and Megan Wagner Lloyd. Grades 3+

Content: early relationships, family dynamics, recounting a death in the family

Thank you to Scholastic for the DRC.

[Summer · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars. While this is classified as a companion graphic novel and definitely could be read as a stand-alone, I would still recommend reading Miss Quinces, not only because this second book references something important that happened in Miss Quinces, but also just because Miss Quinces was a fantastic story, well worth reading.

The subject matter in this one isn’t as emotional as in Miss Quinces, still Sue’s experiences with someone at camp having a crush on her, and someone else monopolizing her best friend’s time were relatable situations. For me though, any scenes involving the sisters (Sue’s oldest sister is there as a counselor while young, adorably clingy Ester is a first-time camper) interracting were the highlights here, I’d be happy to continue reading about this family for a long time to come.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Follow up to Fajardo's wonderful Miss Quinces graphic novel. For me, a less successful outing. A lot of the camp activities are fun, and feels more or less accurate. This is both about friendship and family troubles, which I feel like was a bit of a mistake. Either the friend or the sister conflict could have easily taken over the entire graphic novel, which means both threads get less time than they deserve. This affects the sister conflict more. Honestly, the younger sister was really obnoxious for most of the book, and it felt unfair that the main character had to sacrifice her summer camp experience to babysit her. It's the exact reason most camps wouldn't put different aged siblings in the same cabin. The friend conflict is just very standard. However, I like the characters, the dialog is mostly natural to read, and the art is really cute.

[Roben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sue is back! She missed camp last year because she had to go to Puerto Rico for her quinceañera (see Miss Quince, also by Fajardo!) And her abuelita was sick and ended up passing away. But this summer? Miss Quince becomes Miss Camp for two whole weeks with her best friend. And her little sister, Elena. And her older sister is one of their counselors. But it is in upstate New York! All the friends are there! Their cabin has the best name - the wolves. What could go wrong? Pretty much everything. Fortunately her counselor/archery instructor helps her figure a few things out about dealing with disappointments.
And she forges stronger bonds with everyone.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Following up on the popular Miss Quinces, this graphic novel features several of the characters introduced in the earlier title. In this installment, Sue joins her big sister, Carmen, a counselor, and little sister, Ester, at camp for the first time. But her best friend, Sam, seems more interested in spending time with Marisol, her camp friend from last year, than hanging with Sue. Plus, Sue's dealing with Ester's clinginess and a romantic offer from another camper. Could things get any more complicated? Add this relatable title to a collection of stories about camping and friendship. It has a lot going for it, including humor, likeable characters, and more than a touch of drama.

[Nicole Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book for my honest opinion.

Sue is excited to be heading to camp for the first time with her best friend, Sam, but things go awry when she finds out Sam has a camp best friend and Sue is stuck with her little sister following her around. This is a great book for kiddos worried about going to an overnight camp for the first time. Many things go wrong for Sue but she through all the disappointments and surprises to have one of the best summers of her life. A fun book to get you ready for summer, camp, and relationship angst.

[Katie Reilley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A companion to Miss Quinces, Sue is excited to head to Camp Willow during summer break. She’s got plans with her best friend Sam to do some hiking, archery, comic-making, and LARPing (live action role playing). But with older sister Carmen attending camp as a counselor and younger sister Ester attending (and being clingy with her), Sue’s finding it hard to create the fun memories she’d planned. On top of that, Sue’s best friend has a CAMP best friend, and Sue’s friend Izzy wants to be more than just friends!

Themes of family, friendship, identity, and early romantic feelings.

[Heather Marvel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! The last book Sue and her mother's relationship was explored in a really excellent and realistically relatable way. This one follows Sue to camp and dives into her sibling relationships and her close friendships. I love the way the author allows Sue to make mistakes in her communication and conflict management with her friends and siblings, but learns and grows by the end. The lessons about making mistakes, being honest with your friends about your feelings, and how to effectively apologize are well executed.

[Stacey Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Her first time at summer camp is not going like she hoped. Sue wanted to spend time with her best friend Sam. But her mother told her to look after her needy younger sister Ester, who doesn't give Sue a moment to enjoy camp her way. Frustrated with changes in the schedules, poison ivy and Sam hanging with Marisol more than her Sue is feeling left out. Through a few helpful camp counselors and a scare about Ester Sue finds a way to make the most of her camp experience and maybe even have some fun. But it takes a change of attitude.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

First finished book of 2026! This one was adorable. Read with my 8yo and compared it to her sleepaway camp experience. She very much enjoyed it.

The only negative thing I have to say about this is that when you send your kids away to camp, it is not their responsibility to take care of their siblings. Look out for them, sure? But be responsible for them? No. (Unless they are specifically the camp counselor, which only one sister was in this space.) I don't like that message at all. But, we talked about that at home and how this would never be the expectation.

[Ardin Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Decided to read this one in my backyard to get that extra summer vibe. I really enjoyed Miss Quinces, so I was super excited to receive an ARC for Miss Camper!
I loved seeing Sue and her sister's navigating all the changes in their lives, and attending camp for the first time. I don't like giving spoilers but if you're looking for a good summer read, with some sibling drama, and cool camp counselors this is totally the book for you!

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miss Camper: solid MG graphic novel. The dialogue's a little awkward at first but eventually finds its stride. Sticks fairly closely to the expected story beats for a summer camp narrative for kids, but young readers who love this topic/setting will find it enjoyable (and the scene with Sue respectfully turning down Izzy was well-done and not something we see as much in books). This is technically a sequel to Miss Quinces, though it would work fine as a standalone.

[Dolores · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sue is so excited to be heading to summer camp with her best friend, Sam. She has BIG plans for the summer. But things just aren't working out like she hoped. Sam isn't in hardly any of the same classes or activities as she is--and when she is, she is far too busy with her camp friend, Marisol. Sue is feeling left out and disgruntled that all SHE seems to be doing is hanging out with and babysitting her little sister, Ester. Is the whole summer camp going to be a bust? Sequel to Miss Quinces.

[Season Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apart from confusing plural pronouns for a single being, it’s a great story of Sue’s summer at camp and how she navigates relationships with her friends and sisters. (And the pronouns are only really mentioned one time and in the author’s bio) I feel like it should have been labeled as a “Book 2;” while it can be read without having read Miss Quinces, a couple of references may be a little confusing without reading the first book about Sue.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

This middle grade graphic novel is from the perspective of the middle sister, Sue, at a summer camp all three sisters attend. The little sister is very clingy, which annoys Sue. And then one of her friends says he has a crush on her, but she doesn't return the feelings. How to tell him?! This was a little bit too quiet to me, not a lot happens. But I also haven't read Miss Quinces, and readers who have might enjoy this more.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sue is back and taking on summer sleep away camp! It’s no surprise that this book was just as fun and touching as Miss Quinces. Kat does a wonderful job of creating lovable and relatable characters coming of age and navigating changes and challenges with such human grace.

Miss Camper is the middle grade read of summer 2025. Congratulations to Kat on an amazing follow up to Miss Quinces!

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute middle grade graphic novel about summer camp and navigating family expectations, relationships, and friendships.
I like the focus on the friendships, getting to know new people, and getting to know yourself a little bit better being in an environment that pushes you to experience new things.
The artwork was really well done!

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I considered giving this one up as I wasn't really enjoying it; I found the little sister annoying, and the story in general just wasn't much fun. But the art was great, and I thought the story really picked up in the second half. (Also I am like 30 years older than the target audience, so what do I know?)

[Bethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Text bigger easier to read - was it this large in Miss quinces? MG gnc text usually smaller size, or am I confusing the size with YA graphic novels?
Camp cabins have cubicles for the bunks and mixed ages - never seen that before
All 3 sisters together in cabin, eldest as a counselor
Friendships, families, a crush on Sue, summer camp fun

[carrietracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this without knowing it was a follow up to Ms. Quinces. Overall it reads like it's a much younger main character - even knowing at the beginning that she's 15 it feels a lot more like she's a middle schooler, with an elementary aged sister.

The camp set up is fine, there are a lot of family dynamic stuff/friend dynamic stuff but overall it just didn't quite catch me.