- Graphic Novels
- Ages 9–13
- Contemporary
Sheets
A tender graphic novel about a grieving girl, a family laundrette, and a ghost who wears a sheet. It looks gentle and quirky, but it carries real emotional weight around loss, loneliness, and family pressure.
- Best for9–13
- FormatGraphic
- Length240 pp
- Read aloud~1 hr55 min
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Conversational
- Literary
Tone
- Bittersweet
- Heartwarming
- Whimsical
- Thought provoking
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
Marjorie Glatt is trying to keep her family's laundrette running after her mother's death, while her father is lost in grief and a local businessman tries to take advantage of them. Meanwhile, Wendell is a young ghost who does not quite fit in among the other ghosts and finds himself drawn to Marjorie's world of laundry, loneliness, and unfinished business. Brenna Thummler's graphic novel blends realistic family grief with a soft supernatural premise, using muted colours and visual metaphor to make the emotional world feel immediate. Sheets is both strange and grounded: a story about ghosts, but really about being unseen, carrying too much, and finding friendship in an unexpected place.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- Best fit · 9–13
- Read aloud · 8–12
- Independent · 9–13
Prose load
Light
Visual support
Very high
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Workable
Works well for
- Gift-buying
- Reluctant readers
Preview before sharing if a child is sensitive to: death of parent, grief, mental health, bullying.
Bedtime suitability
3 / 5 · Workable
Sensitive-child
3 / 5 · Mostly fine
Graphic intensity
1 / 5 · None
Best for
- Middle grade graphic novel
- Gentle ghost story
- Grief story
- Beautiful art
- Reluctant reader pick
Avoid if
- Sensitive to parent death
- Wants light comedy
- Wants action fantasy
Particularly good for children who are…
- Bereavement
- Anxiety and worry
- Being bullied
- Low self esteem
In the classroom
How it works in school.
A tender graphic novel about grief, family and an unlikely ghostly friendship — a strong discussion read, and accessible for reluctant readers.
A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
The specific weight is Marjorie running the laundrette — her mother dead, her father lost in grief, a small businessman trying to take advantage, and a ghost named Wendell quietly hiding in the sheets. The graphic novel where the ghost is the comfort, not the threat.
- Being understood finally
- Friendship and belonging
- Cosy safety
- Secret world
Why parents love it
The Brenna Thummler debut — graphic novel about grief and loneliness with a soft supernatural premise. Quietly devastating; the muted palette does much of the emotional work. Strong for a child grieving or watching a family member struggle.
- Beautiful illustrations
- Conversation starter
- Great writing
About the author & illustrator
Brenna Thummler.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
Buy or borrow
Pick up a copy.
- Bookshop.org ↗
- Waterstones ↗
- Amazon UK ↗
- Hive ↗
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