Penny plans to thank Bessie for rescuing her from a scary plunge in the lake three years ago.Bessie, known as the Bawk-ness Monster, is a part-chicken, part–sea serpent legend residing in Lake Bockamixon. Penny enlists her friends-skeptical Luc and eager Kaylee, a budding cryptozoologist-to help her reconnect with the large, feathered creature. Penny's mom, unaware of the plan to find Bessie, reluctantly agrees to take the trio camping at the lake, where Penny and her friends don a fake Bessie costume and are soon captured by a group of cryptid poachers. The poacher's boss, Alvida Scales, a Cruella de Vil type, is a single-minded, child-loathing villain who has built a lair under the lake to cage the various cryptids she's collected and plans to sell. The trio of friends-and Penny's mom-heroically rise to the occasion in order to rescue themselves and the cryptids. The human characters possess a lively, sometimes frenzied energy, with swooping gestures, huge eyes, and enormous mouths conveying emotion. The bright backgrounds, dynamic speech balloons, and many open frames are equally energetic. Kaylee is Black; other major characters read White. A flashback shows Luc's evolving gender identity. Goetter and Riess provide an illustrated inside look at their process of creating the graphic novel, from concepts to thumbnails to inking.A spirited mix of excitement and broad humor. (Graphic fantasy. 7-10)

In this riotous graphic novel series opener by collaborators Riess and Goetter (Dungeon Critters), middle schooler Penny asks her best friends Luc and K to help her tie up loose ends as she prepares to move away from her hometown. Penny claims that, years ago, she was saved from drowning in Lake Bockamixon by a half-sea-serpent, half-chicken creature she calls Bessie the Bawk-ness Monster, and she aims to return to the lake to thank the gigantic cryptid. After Penny persuades her mother to take the trio camping at the lake, the tweens encounter Bessie, only to be captured alongside her by submarine-driving, notorious monster-hunter Alvida Scales. Now stuck in Alvida’s secret lair at the bottom of the lake, Penny and her friends must not only save themselves, but also Bessie and a menagerie of other caged critters. Psychedelically saturated full-color illustrations, which overflow with brisk movement and monster-hunting shenanigans, depict plentiful visual gags, including giggle-worthy cryptids such as Bigtaur, a bigfoot-centaur mashup, and Yeticorn, a yeti-unicorn hybrid. The evil scientist antics and madcap premise still leave room for emotionally charged moments that offset the escapade’s inherent silliness. Ages 8–12. (June)

Gr 3–5— In this first entry in a new series, middle schooler Penny prepares to move from her hometown and enlists the help of her friends, Luc and K, to track down a cryptid who saved her life. Bessie, Penny's nickname for the Bawk-ness Monster, has the lower body of a sea serpent and the upper body of a chicken; she rescued Penny from drowning years before. Penny's overprotective mother won't let her out of her sight, so the three friends hope for a distraction during a camping trip so that Penny can see Bawk-ness. Trouble strikes when the group and Bawk-ness are captured by cryptid broker Alvida Scales, a sublimely villainous meanie, whose underwater lair contains a veritable cryptid zoo. Bright colors, bold illustrations, and frenetic energy match fast-paced dialogue, and the cryptids are a delightful mix of mashups, giving readers characters like the Bigtaur (half Bigfoot, half centaur) and the Yeticorn (half Yeti, half unicorn). Laugh-out-loud gags run throughout, with tender moments emphasizing relationships between characters. A flashback gives context for Luc's exploration of gender identity. Most human characters present as white; K has brown skin. Back matter includes an illustrated look at the process of creating a graphic novel. VERDICT A chaotically fun series opener that grabs readers from the first pages.— Rosemary Kiladitis