I really loved this graphic novel by Jillian Tamaki & Mariko Tamaki. The black and white and purplish color palette reminded me of Blueberries for Sal, a picture book I loved as a kid, and the story made me think about summers of my childhood, where nothing happened but everything happened at the same time.
This is the story of Rose, who comes to Awago Beach every summer with her mom and dad and hangs out with her “summer friend,” Windy. This summer, though, things are a little different. Rose’s mom and dad are fighting a lot and Rose begins to have a vague interest in Duncan, the teenage clerk of the only grocery/video store on the island. In the meantime, some things haven’t changed. Rose and Windy walk and talk and swim a lot and watching them work their way through classic slasher and horror movies on DVD is funny and touching.
This story feels both modern and old-fashioned and funneled nicely through Rose’s point of view. We gradually learn, as Rose does, what’s going on between her parents and what’s going on between Duncan and his girlfriend, Jenny. But the heart of the story is Rose’s friendship with Windy—silly yet profound, changing but hopefully not dissolving. This is a perfect book for summer—evoking memories of long days filled with just “doing stuff” and killing time—whether you spent your days on an island or riding your bike around the suburbs—waiting for adulthood to arrive, with a mix of dread and anticipation.
