Kendal Rivera
Ms.Stuvel
B6, Honors English 9
Due, November 28th
Novel Analysis
SUPER SHORT SUMMARY:
Rose is an ordinary teenage girl who goes on an annual road trip to Awago Beach during her summer break. This trip wasn't anything like her past ones, for she was getting older and was developing an interest in a boy that got between her and her best friend, Windy. However, this futile crush had problems of his own with his current girlfriend, and Rose faced other setbacks with her parents constantly bickering. At times Rose felt forsaken and worthless, stuck between many constant quarrels and not knowing how to handle them. She never finds relief until the end of the story where her mom saves Duncan's girlfriend from drowning, and she finally realizes how much more appreciative she needs to be after finding out that Duncan's girlfriend is pregnant, her mothers previous years miscarriage, and simply her valuing for Windy.
BEST LINES:
"After everything that I went through, you think I want to be AWAY from my family?" (Tamaki 101)
"Come on, Mom. Just put your feet in" (Tamaki 134).
"When my mom is mad at my dad, because my dad wont do something, or forgets to do something, she just breathes" (Tamaki 167). "
"Some lessons are hard learned, little girl. Certainly no need to be a smartie pants" (Tamaki 232).
THEMATIC CONNECTIONS:
When reading the journey of a teenage girl on her despondent summer adventure, many themes can be taken from the text. Yet, I feel the best one would be the idea that mutual love, compassion, and loyalty towards, individuals who may or may not be blood-related, should always be treated as a unified family. This theme also relates to the series of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. This is because throughout the 5 individual novels, the main characters Carmen, Tibby, Lena, and Bridget face a split during the summer just as Rose has difficulties and distance problems with her best friend Windy. Personal troubles are also big in both stories, since each of the four different girls has an individual conflict over the summer they struggle enjoying their time off. This also happens with Rose as she likes a boy whos much older than her, just as Bridget from the other novel. These small characteristics tied into each others themes by helping the characters find themselves emotionally as well as learning how to face their experiences without the security of the others. Ultimately, Rose and the four girls learned the importance of friendship, the search for love, and the difficulties of growing up.
STYLE ANALYSIS:
Mariko Tamaki is best known for her partner works with her artist and cousin, Jillian Tamaki. Their well known graphic novel, This One Summer, is portrayed with more of a sympathetic tone. Throughout the story, the main character Rose faces many difficulties and heartaches, so Tamaki enforces the idea of sympathy, making the reader feel the emotions Rose feels. The imagery in the text doesn't have to be strong since the novel is graphic, however when a character thought to themselves, and a drawn image wasn't needed, then Mariko would go into great description. Along with word choice, Mariko didn't select a sophisticated level, but she used enough difficulty in her words to make readers comprehend the scene of events. This also tied into the diction and syntax of the story and made both the narration and dialect flow together seamlessly. With the character herself, she showed heavy grit and determination as well as contradicting emotions as despair and hopelessness. Overall, Tamaki seemed to be draw to the idea of sincerity and affection.
CRITIQUE:
This One Summer would absolutely be defined as a must read. This is because it is a heartfelt story with small lessons attached to certain sections in the book. The novel also has its ways of relating Rose to the readers. She does this with strong enforced solicitude to Rose's problems that can been seen in the daily life of an average teenager. Young teens with parental problems or simply even friendship conflicts can find relation to the story, and that's a superior quality to an author. Tamaki is a fascinating writer that leaves her readers in awe and grasping for more at the end of her novels and it's no different with this one. Though the novel was a great read, there were changes that could've been made. The idea behind the story was well planned, but the organization of the events was almost lost. It was scattered and occasionally hard to understand at some point. However, the only other main concern I noticed was the short cut ending. The story had reached a climax near the end of the novel, which made it hard for Mariko to finish her story. This unfortunately resulted in a small cliff hanger and missed key points to ending the overall plot. Though the graphic novel has its improvements, it sure wouldn't loose its title as an honorable novel.
CITATION:
- Tamaki, Mariko, and Jillian Tamaki. This One Summer. Groundwood Books, House of Anansi Press, 2015.
- Tamaki, Mariko Tamaki Jillian, et al. “This One Summer.” By Mariko Tamaki, www.goodreads.com/book/show/18465566-this-one-summer.
- MacDonald, Heidi, and Dan Kleinman says. “‘This One Summer’ Is the Most Challenged Book of 2016, Followed Closely by ‘Drama.’” The Beat, 10 Apr. 2017, www.comicsbeat.com/this-one-summer-is-the-most-challenged-book-of-2016-followed-closely-by-drama/.