The Swamp Thing

The Swamp Thingy is the sixth book in Dom Pelletier’s “The Lunch Club” series, featuring familiar faces, Leo and Tia, in a race to save the world. This time, it’s summer vacation, and the two friends start out on different paths. While Leo is trying to save money by mowing lawns, Tia is trying to save the planet by cleaning up trash. Of course, nothing is ever quite as expected for these two. Leo meets Madame Celeste, a fortune-teller who has figured out a way to harness the power of the constellations and who plans to use this newfound power to manipulate and control the future. Meanwhile, Tia finds a swamp creature who turns out to be the constellation guardian Ariel, trapped in fish form by Madame Celeste.

While the illustrations in Pelletier’s series are all consistently bright, eye-catching, and fun, there are always a few pages that stand out as particularly impressive. In this case, it’s the two-page spread on pages 4-5 that really caught my eye; without a single word, Ariel’s progression from happy goldish to terrified Swamp Thingy is perfectly clear. I always appreciate the balance of text to images in this series. It’s a great stepping stone for readers who rely heavily on visual cues.

Once again, this “Lunch Club” book is a fun adventure full of wacky characters and silly situations, and this instalment is probably one of my favourites. The introduction of a new villain is a great way to reinvigorate the series, and, once again, readers are left knowing there’s another book on its way. I still maintain the series would make a great animated show. I can almost hear the sound effects and comic voices as I read.