Reviews

It was such a nice read. It is lighthearted enough so that I could read it before bed. The target reader seems to be children and YA, but I enjoyed reading it as an adult reader as well. It is written in the view of a child whose family suffers from a member's substance abuse. It was lovely to see how she finds comfort from kindness from people around her and an introduction to comics by an unexpected friend.

Review by Linda (Any Pronouns) in April 2024
Personal essays on DefinitelyNotOkay.com
Artwork on Instagram @KoreanLinda

Content Warnings

roseleaf24's review against another edition

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4.0

Very cute story about family interactions,. Made me think about the secrets children feel they need to keep aid what we can do to be a safe place for them.

mehsi's review against another edition

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4.0

This was a really interesting graphic novel, and I would recommend it.

kethumary's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

sejireads's review against another edition

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emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

Content Warnings

bickie's review against another edition

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3.0

10-year-old Sunny ("my mom likes hippies") flies by herself from PA to visit her grandfather, who lives in a 55+ community in Palm Beach, FL in 1976. As Sunny has to reset her expectations (no kids live there though she finally meets the son of the groundskeeper, dinner is at 5:00 or before, she tries to sleep on a pull-out sofa, Disneyland is super far away, Grandpa thinks big plans are going to the post office or grocery store), her thoughts return to various events in the past 6 months or so at home which eventually explain why she is there. Her older brother, Dale, drinks and smokes (perhaps he is smoking marijuana, though that is not completely explicit), and during an altercation with his parents at the 4th of July fire works, he hit his little sister Sunny.

The book is aimed at middle-grade readers, and though the messages of talking about issues rather than keeping them as "secrets" is relevant to older students as well (and everyone, really), I am not sure whether older middle schoolers or high schoolers would stick with it. Perhaps. I wondered who "Dale" was from the very beginning. Best for ages 8-11.

4saradouglas's review against another edition

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4.0

I liked it. It gives a glimpse of life in the 70s, the bicentennial, grandfather/granddaughter relationships, old people, girls reading comic books... lots of things I don't see a lot of in other literature. I still think graphic novels are too short, but there's a definite beginning and end here and it makes a good point.

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