2015 Printz Honor
2015 Caldecott Honor
Rose and Windy, friends for two weeks every summer in nearby Ontario lake cottages, have hit early adolescence. Rose, a bit older, has knowledge and polish that tubby, still-childish Windy lacks, and Windy sometimes bores her. Yet Windy’s instincts are often sound, while Rose is led astray by an infatuation with a local convenience store clerk. As Rose’s parents’ marriage founders and the taunts of local teens wake her to issues of social class, Rose veers between secret grief and fleeting pleasure in the rituals of summer. Jillian Tamaki’s exceptionally graceful line is one of the strengths of this work from the cousin duo behind Skim. Printed entirely in somber blue ink, the illustrations powerfully evoke the densely wooded beach town setting and the emotional freight carried by characters at critical moments, including several confronting their womanhood in different and painful ways. Fine characterization and sensitive prose distinguish the story, too—as when Rose remembers the wisdom a swimming teacher shared about holding his breath for minutes at a time: “He told me the secret was he would tell himself that he was actually breathing.” Ages 12–up.
Although beautifully illustrated, I found the story line hard to follow as graphic novels are not my favorite. A lot of swearing, including the F word, so not really appropriate for middle school.
