Friday, May 1, 2020

This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki

Title: This One Summer
Author: Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
Publisher: First Second
Publication Date: May 6, 2014

Format: eBook
Price: $9.99
Page Count: 320
ISBN-13: 9781466858503

Reading Level: Grades 7 and up (ages 12+)
Lexile: 180
Interest Level: Grades 9 and up (ages 12+)

Annotation: This year's summer trip to the lake house is not the vacation Rose thought it would be.

Plot and Content Summary: Every summer, Rose takes a trip with her mom and dad to a lake house in Awago Beach and meets up with her cottage friend, Windy. This time around, although their intentions are to relax and have a little fun, there is tension between her parents and Rose is caught in the middle of it. Her mom is depressed, but Rose is too naive to understand why. At the same time, Rose and Windy overhear a girl not too much older than them telling her friends she thinks she is pregnant.

Evaluation: The themes presented in This One Summer are ones to look forward to, but the plot fell incredibly flat. The illustrations are very nice and visually pleasing to look at, but it only helped the story telling so much. This One Summer brings up many tough issues, such as Rose's mom with her miscarriage and her dad's inability to empathize, but it only does just that—there is no further discussion about it. This graphic novel would have been much more impactful if these things were addressed in some way. But perhaps Rose not understanding her mom's pain is a response.

Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness: I could see this being useful to someone who has distant parents. We see Rose on the trip with her parents, but they do not really spend any time with her. Of course, we learn that they are going through something difficult. This shows us that our parents are humans like us, and they are not always perfect.

Issues Present: There is constant slut-shaming in this graphic novel—and the ones doing it include Rose and Windy, who surprisingly do it without knowing exactly what it means. They learn it from older guys, one of whom Rose develops a crush on. Personally, I think it is valuable in a book only if expresses to readers how hurtful this type of language is. Even though Rose and Windy's parents overhear them calling the pregnant girl a slut and reprimand them for it, Rose and Windy still do not understand why it is a big deal. I wish this issue could've been further discussed, so I hope readers can read between the lines.

Book Talk Ideas:
  • Why do you think Rose doesn't understand what her mom is going through? How does that relate to what she thinks about the pregnant girl?
  • How are females treated in this graphic novel? Do you think Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki did this intentionally?
  • Discuss Windy and Rose's relationship.

Genre/Subgenres: Canadian fiction; Comics and graphic novels

Readalikes: The Zabime Sisters by Aristophane; When My Sister Started Kissing by Helen Frost; Friends with Boys by Faith Erin Hicks; Honor Girl by Maggie Thrash

References
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