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Aquel Verano (2014)

by Mariko Tamaki(Favorite Author)

3.65 of 5 Votes: 3

languge

English

genre

Graphic Novels & Comics

publisher

La Cúpula

review 1: Gah, this book is beautiful. I mean, aesthetically, completely gorgeous. Worth reading for that alone. I guess not a lot happens, but I didn't mind that at all. I enjoyed the realistic view of the friendship between Rose and Windy. Yes, Rose was in her own head a lot and Windy was still pretty immature, but in an adorable way. A lot happens at that age that can make a one year age difference seem like a very wide gap in maturity. What I was happy to see was that they managed to continue their friendship despite those differences. I think Rose needed Windy and her whimsy around to get through the summer. Rose's mom's story was super depressing, yes, but it was part of the story. I think my favorite part really though was at the end when the moms were talking and they pretty... more much knew everything that had been going on with the girls, even though they didn't tell them. (Again, relating to the moms... I'm old, ugh.) But I still also remember that time when you started to know about mature topics but didn't really understand them, and yet wanted to talk about them all the time. (Wren, please come to me about these things at that age.)Anyway, I really enjoyed this book, although I'm not sure teens would be all that interested.
review 2: O.K. so this one is on every single "Best Books of 2014" list that I have seen. And I am sitting here scratching my head, asking myself why "This One Summer" by Jillian and Mariko Tamaki didn't do it for me.Let's start with the good news. The graphics are stunning. Done is a blue/purple tone that sets a dark tone (maybe misleadingly so), the graphics have movement that propels the reader forward. For instance, on page 168 and 169, one finds a two page spread that is a close-up of a hummingbird feeder. One can actually feel the movement of the birds. Surrounding the graphic are the musings of the two main characters. On the next page the reader is outside of the window where the feeder hangs looking at the faces of the girls as they watch the birds at the feeder. Also, the character of Windy (named appropriately), who is continuously on a sugar high, is constantly on the move, annoyingly so. The artwork captures this movement well. I did not care for the artist's renderings of some of the characters, especially the parents - old, very unattractive, and scary looking.The bad news? Well, there is a lot of it. Let's begin with the main characters, Rose and Windy. Rose arrives at the cabin with her parents. This is a summer family tradition. What is generally a happy time turns sour because of her Rose's mother's depression and the conflict between her parents. Their daughter has no idea what this is all about. Rose hangs out every summer with Windy who is a year and a half younger than she is. She is at the lake with her mother (a massage therapist) and grandmother (an alcoholic). The age of the characters is unclear. Rose appears to be a tween. But Windy appears and acts very childlike. So some of their conversations don't seem appropriate (boobs, sluts, virgins, use of language like "fuck"). Why Rose would even hang out with Windy is beyond me. She is a whining, hyper brat. The things that come out of her mouth are astounding at times. I did not believe this relationship.The plot is also troubling. This really seems more like a snapshot than a story, as it doesn't really follow the traditional story arc. The two girls are growing up. We see them silently take in everything around them and see how it begins to shape who they are as people. They watch the older teens and see and hear - sexism, drug and alcohol use, irresponsible behavior, sexuality, etc. They watch the adults and see and hear depression, anger, and conflict. The two sublpots both involve child bearing. In one we see irresponsible, sexually active teens deal with an unwanted pregnancy. In the other we see a mother dealing with the loss of a very much wanted pregnancy. I get the parallels here (though I didn't see that realization in most of the reviews I read of this book). The thing is that there is no high point in the story, nor is there any resolution of either of these sub-plots. I kept wondering if this was the first in a series. Geez...I hope not. The lack of any resolution was frustrating. Because there were no resolutions, it made me sick to my stomach to see these two impressionable teens walk away having taken this all in from the young adults and adults around then, and not having learned anything from what they have taken in. It requires a lot of a young reader to make these leaps on their own. I'd love to hear teens discuss what they got from this book.The final aspect of the book that I did not at all care for was the sense throughout the book that something big was going to happen - this is brought on by the color scheme found in the artist's renderings and by the fact that the two main characters watch "R" rated horror films all summer long. There are even scenes where, though not articulated, the character of Rose, is freaked out to walk home at night on her own. And Windy talks about having nightmares. The adults see them watching these movies on several occasions and do nothing more than tell them to turn it down. I kept wondering if one of the creepy jerk teens was going to sexually assault one of the girls. Not that I would have wanted that to happen. But why all of the build up for nothing? So misleading.The more I think about it, the more I dislike this book. Again, I would love to listen to teens discuss "This One Summer." What is all of the hype about here? Reading "This One Summer" is not the way I would recommend anyone spend their summer. Ugh. less

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