Be Prepared

Be Prepared (2018) is Vera Brosgol’s second graphic novel for young adults. The text is a fictionalized account of the author’s own experiences at a summer camp for Russian and Russian American youth. It depicts the challenges that young Vera faces as she tries to fit in with her peers, encounters a variety of wildlife, and learns more about her culture and identity. Brosgol’s first graphic novel, Anya’s Ghost (2011), won an Eisner Award. Be Prepared was named Best Children’s Book of 2018 by the Boston Globe and a Notable Children’s Book of 2018 by The New York Times. It was also chosen by Parents Magazine as the Best Graphic Novel of 2018.

This guide is based on the first edition of the book by First Second Books, published in 2018.

Plot Summary

Vera is a nearly-nine-year-old girl of Russian descent who desperately wants to make friends and fit in. At the start of the narrative, she attends a sleepover birthday party for her friend Sarah. Vera admires all of the components of Sarah’s party that she believes makes it so perfect: Carvel ice cream cake, Pizza Hut stuffed-crust pizza, and elaborate goodie bags. Throughout the party, she struggles to feel included by her peers. Instead of giving Sarah a gift for her “fancy historical” doll, she gives her a piece of hand-drawn art. She also does not have a fancy, expensive doll of her own to play with, though she lies and says she merely left hers at home. When the other girls are discussing their plans for summer camp, Vera grows sad, since she never goes away to camp and knows that she will be home for the summer all by herself. However, with some encouragement from Sarah’s mom, she decides that she will throw her own sleepover birthday party when the other girls return from camp, and that it will be just as perfect as Sarah’s.

Vera convinces her mother to let her throw a party in their small apartment. She is excited about the event, but when the day arrives, it is not as wonderful as she had hoped it would be. The cake and pizza aren’t right, and the other girls are uncomfortable sharing a room in her cramped apartment. When Vera wakes up in the morning, she learns that all the girls called their parents in the middle of the night and were picked up. Vera believes she will never truly fit in, until she learns about a unique summer camp from a girl at her church. The Organization of Russian Razvedchiki in America, or ORRA, is a summer camp just for Russian and Russian American youth. Vera pleads with her mother to let her attend next summer, even going so far as to volunteer her younger brother to attend as well. The school year passes quickly, with Vera eagerly looking forward to her first summer camp experience.

When Vera finally arrives at camp, it is not what she expected it to be. Her camp counselor, Natasha, seems frazzled and distant when they first meet. A guinea pig, which was smuggled into the camp by one of the other girls, has gone missing. Vera is sharing a tent with two older girls, both named Sasha, and the only advice they provide to Vera is not to mess with their things. Despite her reservations, Vera assures her mother that she is fine and wants to stay. Left on her own, she explores her campsite, seeking out the bathroom. Nicknamed the “Hollywood,” it is nothing more than a smelly hole in the ground. Vera panics and attempts to find her mother to take her home, but she has already driven away.

In her first few days at camp, Vera notices that her fellow campers not only already know each other well, they are also already familiar with the camp activities and traditions. She struggles to follow along with the marches, chants, and traditional Russian songs sung around the campfire. She learns that candy is not allowed at camp, due to the fact that it might attract wild animals into the tents, and so Vera is disappointed that this summer camp does not feel very much like the ones that her classmates attend. She struggles with loneliness, as she watches her younger brother fit in with his fellow campers more easily and is jealous of how happy the younger girl campers seem. When her mother comes to visit, she assures Vera that the other girls just need a chance to get to know her and what she’s good at.

Since she is particularly good at art, Vera decides to make a drawing of each of the Sashas to give to them. They are impressed by her skills and insist that she draw Alexei, who they believe is the cutest boy at camp. Vera agrees and begins to receive attention and positive validation from the older girls. One night when Vera, the Sashas, and some other older girls are gathered in their tent, Vera offers the blonde Sasha the giant bag of Skittles she received from her mother, since they are Sasha’s favorite. She later sneaks into Sasha’s candy stash to grab a few Skittles and is caught by Natasha. The rest of the girls realize this is Vera’s fault and are no longer friendly toward her.

Vera decides to spend the rest of her time at camp by herself, since she believes she will only be there for two weeks. Her plans are foiled when she is assigned to guard duty during the weekly flag war between the boys’ camp and the girls’ camp. She takes the flag with her to the outhouse, and it is stolen while she is on the toilet. This causes the other girls to further ostracize her. When Vera’s mother arrives, she lets her children know that they will actually have to stay at camp for the remaining two weeks, so that she can go out of town on an important job interview. Vera is devastated.

Vera learns that the next big event at camp is the long hike deep into the woods that both the girls’ and boys’ camps will participate in. She tells Natasha that she is not going to enjoy this experience, but in the end, finds the journey and setting up their primitive campsite fun. On the hike, Vera has a chance to observe Alexei, whom she views as a bully, and another boy named Gregor, who is clumsy and awkward. Gregor is stung by a wasp when they stop for lunch, prompting Vera to remark that it looks like there is a nipple on his forehead. The other campers find this hilarious, and they begin to collectively mock Gregor. Feeling accepted by the group again, Vera joins in. Later that night, however, Vera realizes that she is still on the outside looking in. She moves her sleeping back out into a clearing, where she has a remarkable encounter with a moose stopping to drink water from a creek. After this moment, Vera has a renewed confidence about her time at camp. Upon returning from the hike, she decides she will work toward getting one of the merit badges that she admired on the Sashas’ uniforms by passing the Third Rank exam.

One day, Vera finds a guinea pig and rescues it from a group of angry chipmunks. She realizes it must be the guinea pig that was lost by one of the other young girl campers, and she returns him to her. The young girl’s name is Kira and she enjoys drawing the wildlife from around the camp. At first Vera is reluctant to be her friend because she is younger, but they eventually form a close friendship due to their shared love of drawing and animals.

After losing in the flag war again and suffering a particularly gross punishment from the boys’ camp, Vera decides they must capture the flag during the next “attack.” Kira helps her prepare by guiding her on the path to the boys’ camp blindfolded. One day, while training, they observe blonde Sasha walk off to the boys’ camp, followed by Alexei a few minutes later. Thanks to her training, Vera is able to sneakily make her way to the boys’ camp on the night of the next “attack” and successfully steals their flag. On her way back to the girls’ camp, she discovers Sasha and Alexei kissing in the boys’ outhouse. She does not tell dark-haired Sasha, even after she asks. Vera is treated as a hero by her fellow campers, and the next day they issue their punishment to the boys: They must measure the depth of each toilet in the “Hollywoods” in order to compare them.

The time comes for the Third Rank exam, but rather than taking it, Vera decides to spend the day with Kira. Soon it is the final day at camp, and Vera spends it doing all the things she enjoys. When it is time to depart, she bids good-bye to Kira, promising to write and send drawings to her. Natasha asks if Vera will be back next summer, and Vera realizes that she is not sure. Vera returns to her tent to finish packing her things. On the way home, Vera learns that her brother did not enjoy camp as much as she believed. The two ask their mother if they have to go back next year and are thrilled when she says no. Their mother then reveals that they cannot return, because they will be moving. She got the job she interviewed for, and the family will be moving to London. Vera is stunned into silence.