Monday, September 15, 2014

This One Summer by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki

This graphic novel is a coming of age story about Rose and her annual summer trip to a cottage.  She's not having a good time--her parents won't stop fighting, and her dad even leaves to "work in the city" for awhile.  While on vacation, Rose's best friend is a younger girl named Windy, and the two of them rent horror movies and spy on the older kids around the area.  There's drama there, too, with cool slacker boys and dramatic teen girls--Rose is the watcher and misunderstands quite a bit.  Windy, having grown up with a hippie mom, tries to set Rose straight with some anti-slut discussion, but Rose doesn't get it.

I enjoyed this little read, but there wasn't any earth shattering moments for me.  The art is beautiful--love the purple and occasional full page spreads.  But, hey, it's middle school, and not much happens to middle schoolers in a summer.

Fair warning--there are plenty of cuss words here, and talk about boobs and sex and questioning. Nothing I wouldn't let my junior high kid read though, although there are parts I'd want to discuss with her.

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