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kelliereadsabit 's review for:
Cicada
by Shaun Tan
This is a basic play on don't work until you fall apart for a company that could replace you in an instant. I found this in the teen section of my local library and I like it being placed there because it accomplishes multiple things:
First - it shows teens and other readers that picture books can cover a wide range of topics and be tailored towards a wide range of audiences, and that helps break the stigma against picture books.
Second - this topic seems a bit too literal and dramatic to appeal to adults who are actually working towards having careers like the Cicada in the story. It read very r/thisisdeep to me (which I hate saying becasue I think it is important to talk about the things that come up in those types of reddit threads). Because of this literal and dramatic topic I think it fits very well with YA and a YA readers sense of right and wrong. This book makes a very clear statment against cooperations tendancies towards ignoring or abusing their workers.
The only big issue I had with this book was the clear illusion to a potential suicide. I think this was too far, and really threw me off. I loved how in the end the cicada flew off to the forest to live a happier life, but I wish it hadn't happened after the humans were done using him and that he had made that decision himself earlier in his life. It almost seems like an allusion to people dying and going to heaven after the system has used them past their potential. I feel that Tan didn't really know what percise message he wanted to convey.
First - it shows teens and other readers that picture books can cover a wide range of topics and be tailored towards a wide range of audiences, and that helps break the stigma against picture books.
Second - this topic seems a bit too literal and dramatic to appeal to adults who are actually working towards having careers like the Cicada in the story. It read very r/thisisdeep to me (which I hate saying becasue I think it is important to talk about the things that come up in those types of reddit threads). Because of this literal and dramatic topic I think it fits very well with YA and a YA readers sense of right and wrong. This book makes a very clear statment against cooperations tendancies towards ignoring or abusing their workers.
The only big issue I had with this book was the clear illusion to a potential suicide. I think this was too far, and really threw me off. I loved how in the end the cicada flew off to the forest to live a happier life, but I wish it hadn't happened after the humans were done using him and that he had made that decision himself earlier in his life. It almost seems like an allusion to people dying and going to heaven after the system has used them past their potential. I feel that Tan didn't really know what percise message he wanted to convey.