Thank you Walker books for this book in exchange for an honest review

Synopsis:

Harriet Flores struggles with boredom and an unrequited crush while learning to manage her chronic illness through a long, hot, 1990s summer in Chicago. She uses her imagination to cope, which sometimes gets her into trouble, as she makes up fantastical fibs and wonders if there are ghosts upstairs. One neighbor, Pearl, encourages Harriet to read and write, leading Harriet to have a breakthrough and discover the power of storytelling.

Review:

This was brilliant, but there was only one thing stopping me from giving this a 5/5 and that was the fact that it doesn’t really high light the chronical illness. If you weren’t aware that this was based around a young character that lived with a chronic illness you would just purely think that Harriet was just a deeply bullied and depressed child. There is only small moments were the chronic illness is mention and only at the end, if this was spread through the graphic novel and with a little more detail, it would have really made the novel for me.

We see the summer holidays through the eyes of Harriet, who is bored at home while her parents work. Overcome with boredom, Harriet explores the corners of her apartment and also engages with the elderly neighbour, who supplies her with stories and of course wonderful classic tales.

I loved the illustrations in this graphic, it was simplistic and yet, delightful. I loved the postcard aspect of the story as well. It draws attention to harsh world of girls and how bloody nasty we can be. Trust me, they are snide nasty, my favourite kind.

This was a quick, little tale that was beautiful and needs to be read!

Rating: 4.5/5

Publisher: Graphic Universe

ISBN: 9781541545298