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This One Summer
by
Every summer, Rose goes with her mom and dad to a lake house in Awago Beach. It's their getaway, their refuge. Rosie's friend Windy is always there, too, like the little sister she never had. But this summer is different. Rose's mom and dad won't stop fighting, and when Rose and Windy seek a distraction from the drama, they find themselves with a whole new set of problems.
...more
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Hardcover, 320 pages
Published
May 6th 2014
by First Second
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I rarely write GR reviews, but I almost didn't pick this up because of some of the reviews I've seen, so I wanted to add my five stars.
This is a quiet book. Much of the action is observed rather than experienced by the protagonists, but the impact it has on them is deeply felt. If you're looking for grand resolutions or "boy did I learn my lesson" closure, you won't find it here. And that's exactly as it should be.
This One Summer beautifully and poignantly captures a particular moment in girlh ...more
This is a quiet book. Much of the action is observed rather than experienced by the protagonists, but the impact it has on them is deeply felt. If you're looking for grand resolutions or "boy did I learn my lesson" closure, you won't find it here. And that's exactly as it should be.
This One Summer beautifully and poignantly captures a particular moment in girlh ...more

Me the whole time:

...more

...more

The huge bummer of the graphic novel is that someone labors for ages over their creation and then you sit down with your pint of Chubby Hubby and make mincemeat of the both of them within the hour. I always feel a little awful about it, and this is probably the kind of thing the French have a word for--the sorrow of beauty’s brevity.
Anyway it’s hard to imagine a [French-word-for-the-sorrow-of-beauty’s-brevity] more hollowing than the end of summer. Those last days of August nearly slaughtered me ...more
Anyway it’s hard to imagine a [French-word-for-the-sorrow-of-beauty’s-brevity] more hollowing than the end of summer. Those last days of August nearly slaughtered me ...more

7/10/19 Reread with a small group of students focused on coming of age stories. So good.
6/23/17 Reread update, after reading it with my YA Comics/Graphic Novels class this summer. The way all great novels can be, better each time you read it, and it is always a privilege to experience reading with others who also like/love it, especially (for me) people who have never read anything like it before. Most of them have never read graphic novels. So many small details, the mundane, become important. ...more
6/23/17 Reread update, after reading it with my YA Comics/Graphic Novels class this summer. The way all great novels can be, better each time you read it, and it is always a privilege to experience reading with others who also like/love it, especially (for me) people who have never read anything like it before. Most of them have never read graphic novels. So many small details, the mundane, become important. ...more

This One Summer is worth a read for the breathtaking artwork alone. Check it out:

Unfortunately, the story didn’t do much for me. I really liked the idea of a summer of firsts and lessons, but when it was all said and done, I don’t really think the main character learned anything. There’s some slut-shamming done and she never understood why it wasn’t okay to say certain things. Though her friend did correct her a few times, she seemed to just write it off. The book also never felt like it actuall ...more

Unfortunately, the story didn’t do much for me. I really liked the idea of a summer of firsts and lessons, but when it was all said and done, I don’t really think the main character learned anything. There’s some slut-shamming done and she never understood why it wasn’t okay to say certain things. Though her friend did correct her a few times, she seemed to just write it off. The book also never felt like it actuall ...more

This was a tiny bit of a disappointment :(
The thing about graphic novels is that you have TWO giant elements: the writing AND the art.
The art in this book was phenomenal. Absolutely wonderful. I have not a single complaint. There was a giant combination of different types of panels - squares, rectangles, splash pages.. and all of them were gorgeous. And it was all purple! I loved that it was all purple. Very moody and lovely.
The writing/story, however.. meh :( It felt a little boring, and not fo ...more
The thing about graphic novels is that you have TWO giant elements: the writing AND the art.
The art in this book was phenomenal. Absolutely wonderful. I have not a single complaint. There was a giant combination of different types of panels - squares, rectangles, splash pages.. and all of them were gorgeous. And it was all purple! I loved that it was all purple. Very moody and lovely.
The writing/story, however.. meh :( It felt a little boring, and not fo ...more

Artwork: 5 stars
Plot: 2 stars
The artwork was STUNNING in this book but that's where my love ends. I felt this could have told a bigger story and made a bigger impact but it felt very open ended honestly.
I did resonate with the mother so very much ( you'll know once you read the book)
But I wanted more plot, more depth.
The artwork though? A++++ ...more
Plot: 2 stars
The artwork was STUNNING in this book but that's where my love ends. I felt this could have told a bigger story and made a bigger impact but it felt very open ended honestly.
I did resonate with the mother so very much ( you'll know once you read the book)
But I wanted more plot, more depth.
The artwork though? A++++ ...more


This story follows Rose's yearly summer trip with her mom and dad to a lake house in Awago Beach. It's their getaway, their refuge. Rosie's friend Windy is always there, too, like the little sister she never had. But this summer is different.
This One Summer felt like a great summer read. And even though the plot wasn’t the most exciting, it still kept me flipping page after page. Plus, the friendship and banter between the two main characters added some needed humor to the story.

(Windy’s dance ...more

Will it embarrass you if I gush?
Aw, hell, it doesn't matter.
Here I go. I'm going to gush.
I'm going to gush, going to tell you that, as far as graphic novels go, this is best in show.
I didn't only turn the pages of this illustrated story with great enthusiasm, I experienced moments of great reflection here (held my breath a moment or two, too).
This book knocked me out.
The writer/illustrator team of This One Summer, Jillian and Mariko Tamaki, are Canadian cousins who have clearly listened to how p ...more
Aw, hell, it doesn't matter.
Here I go. I'm going to gush.
I'm going to gush, going to tell you that, as far as graphic novels go, this is best in show.
I didn't only turn the pages of this illustrated story with great enthusiasm, I experienced moments of great reflection here (held my breath a moment or two, too).
This book knocked me out.
The writer/illustrator team of This One Summer, Jillian and Mariko Tamaki, are Canadian cousins who have clearly listened to how p ...more

Jun 12, 2014
First Second Books
marked it as first-second-publications
Possibly my favorite thing about this book is that it is blue.
I mean, I love the plot and the characters and how the problems of growing up are presented and then not easily resolved like tying a bow; I love that there are parents who have their own problems; I love that the dialogue is spare and meaningful and that the art is gorgeous.
This One Summer is a wonderful book.
But I love that Mariko and Jillian made the creative leap to think of this book in another color -- this book was not drawn in ...more
I mean, I love the plot and the characters and how the problems of growing up are presented and then not easily resolved like tying a bow; I love that there are parents who have their own problems; I love that the dialogue is spare and meaningful and that the art is gorgeous.
This One Summer is a wonderful book.
But I love that Mariko and Jillian made the creative leap to think of this book in another color -- this book was not drawn in ...more

Jul 05, 2014
Blue
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
graphic-novel,
young-adult
Everyone has said it. I concur, the art is superb.
What I don't understand is how people thought nothing happened in the book... Hmmm, I suppose things didn't blow up, and there were no car chases, and true there were no explicit sex scenes. So nothing like that happened, I agree. But a lot of things that may seem insignificant to adults or to anyone other than the few children, teenagers, adults involved in the story happened. A lot happened in their lives. Perhaps people have forgotten how impo ...more
What I don't understand is how people thought nothing happened in the book... Hmmm, I suppose things didn't blow up, and there were no car chases, and true there were no explicit sex scenes. So nothing like that happened, I agree. But a lot of things that may seem insignificant to adults or to anyone other than the few children, teenagers, adults involved in the story happened. A lot happened in their lives. Perhaps people have forgotten how impo ...more

The marriage between the story & the graphics are a beautiful relationship!!!
You couldn't have the graphics without the story, and you couldn't have this story without the graphics.
The story is bittersweet, powerful, charming, and sad.....a coming of age young adult gorgeous graphic......dealing with real issues. Two young girls are dealing with their own set of problems while adults in their lives are also struggling.
Lots of details hidden in the graphics..... truthful expressions built into ...more
You couldn't have the graphics without the story, and you couldn't have this story without the graphics.
The story is bittersweet, powerful, charming, and sad.....a coming of age young adult gorgeous graphic......dealing with real issues. Two young girls are dealing with their own set of problems while adults in their lives are also struggling.
Lots of details hidden in the graphics..... truthful expressions built into ...more

Two boring teen girls spend their summer hanging out at the beach with their families. Nothing happens for 300 pages and then something does to give the narrative an unearned sense of purpose. This One Summer? This one sucks.
It really is surprising how little happens in this book. Mariko Tamaki writes a convincing portrayal of some teens’ summer holiday experience except is it worth writing when it’s this banal? She has nothing to say about the girls, nothing to say in general, nothing happens ...more
It really is surprising how little happens in this book. Mariko Tamaki writes a convincing portrayal of some teens’ summer holiday experience except is it worth writing when it’s this banal? She has nothing to say about the girls, nothing to say in general, nothing happens ...more

I wish there was a clearer evolution of charcter development but this is the first graphic novel ever where i've been able to relate to a character and I adored the art and plot!
...more

This book is so incredibly, wonderfully beautiful that it almost hurts me to give it two stars. The art is all but perfect, with exactly the right level of detail. The individual characters are drawn as exactly that, individuals, and I never doubted who I was looking at. The expressions are also very clear. Best of all, the art is reproduced in the same lovely, smokey shade of blue as on the cover. If this had been a wordless book, I think I would have been perfectly happy.
But it's not. The bigg ...more
But it's not. The bigg ...more
![destiny ♡⚔♡ [howling libraries]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1614916030p2/15335689.jpg)
This is a hard graphic novel to rate for me. There's a lot of poignancy and well-meant subtext surrounding girls discovering what society is like for women and how easy it can be to fall prey to internalized misogyny and tearing each other down, but at the same time, I don't think any of it is addressed clearly enough for the target demographic. If this were a graphic novel geared towards adults or the older YA range, I wouldn't think twice about the fact that nobody really calls Rose out on cal
...more

This was a unique and very different graphic novel but I really, really liked it.
I read this in one sitting which shouldn’t be surprising as it’s a graphic novel but I couldn’t put it down. I think with this one, readers will either love it or hate it. The reason I say this is because as much as there is stuff going on within the story, there isn’t much resolution. I know I am still left with unanswered questions but I still feel content with the way it ended.
I also think that part of me enjoye ...more
I read this in one sitting which shouldn’t be surprising as it’s a graphic novel but I couldn’t put it down. I think with this one, readers will either love it or hate it. The reason I say this is because as much as there is stuff going on within the story, there isn’t much resolution. I know I am still left with unanswered questions but I still feel content with the way it ended.
I also think that part of me enjoye ...more

Sep 20, 2019
Eliza
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
comics-and-manga,
3-stars,
average,
cute-and-or-easy-reads,
fiction,
library-books,
reviewed,
young-adult
The ending was so disappointing! Nothing was solved in terms of the mother's depression, Rose's romantic interest, etc. I wish things could have been more developed. This One Summer felt like a story entirely made of fluff, which was fine, I guess. Not all books need to have huge plotlines or twists and turns. So, it wasn't so much that I minded the simplicity; rather, I would have liked some closure towards the end. Otherwise, the story feels unfinished.
...more

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
2.5 Stars
Let’s play a little bit of catch-up. I mean, not the type that I actually need to do which are the 40 other books I have yet to review ranging all the way back to the beginning of the year, but the type where I half-ass talk about a graphic novel I read last week for . . . .
Basically, This One Summer is about just that – one summer. The summer in question is the final one where the balance between remaining a kid and beco ...more
2.5 Stars
Let’s play a little bit of catch-up. I mean, not the type that I actually need to do which are the 40 other books I have yet to review ranging all the way back to the beginning of the year, but the type where I half-ass talk about a graphic novel I read last week for . . . .

Basically, This One Summer is about just that – one summer. The summer in question is the final one where the balance between remaining a kid and beco ...more

Great artwork, lovely mood...but I think I just wanted more from this story.

Garbage.
Half a star for tricking someone into publishing this, and one star for the fantastic five-star artwork. Tragedy to have such great art with this dung heap narrative. Almost no plot, no conflicts, just a sour, artsy-liberal meditation with admittedly well-executed tone and very soft themes you have to really dig to find. Almost, ALMOST nothing really happens.
And the last lines, you ask? "maybe I will have massive boobs. Boobs would be cool." that's the nugget of truth we are left with in ...more
Half a star for tricking someone into publishing this, and one star for the fantastic five-star artwork. Tragedy to have such great art with this dung heap narrative. Almost no plot, no conflicts, just a sour, artsy-liberal meditation with admittedly well-executed tone and very soft themes you have to really dig to find. Almost, ALMOST nothing really happens.
And the last lines, you ask? "maybe I will have massive boobs. Boobs would be cool." that's the nugget of truth we are left with in ...more

I was a fan of these authors' previous collaboration, Skim, but I had resisted this one because I've generally found First Second's YA comics kind of unsatisfying. I should have known this one would be head and shoulders above the rest. In addition to having beautiful, fabulous artwork, This One Summer reminded me of the 1970s YA novels I'd check out from the library as a kid: slightly risque, with a main character on the cusp of puberty and a best friend who's still on the childish side, encoun
...more

Three and a half stars, rounded up.
This is a very quiet, subtle story that other reviewers seem to either embrace or find very annoying because "nothing happens."
The Weird: This book is awkwardly unclassifiable. So far as I can tell, it's being promoted as a YA story, but main character Rose is too young for YA, as she seems to be around 12, and her friend Windy is a year and a half younger, so she's about 10. Then, much of the story is actually about adult problems.
I think kids from 11 or s ...more

3.5
Bastante rápida de leer. Trescientas veinte páginas y un arte bastante bonito.
La lección de que la interpretación de las cosas varía según el espectador.
Un verano real, sin locas fantasías y amores fugaces.
Estoy satisfecho.
Recomendable.
"—It feels good. Floating. It feels like flying."
"—We couldn't figure out what to bring you so we brought cupcakes and wine. And Balloons."
"—I'm a zombie. I have these crazy toughts. Like, I wish. I wish I was a little kid. So I could just scream and be mad. ...more
Bastante rápida de leer. Trescientas veinte páginas y un arte bastante bonito.
La lección de que la interpretación de las cosas varía según el espectador.
Un verano real, sin locas fantasías y amores fugaces.
Estoy satisfecho.
Recomendable.
"—It feels good. Floating. It feels like flying."
"—We couldn't figure out what to bring you so we brought cupcakes and wine. And Balloons."
"—I'm a zombie. I have these crazy toughts. Like, I wish. I wish I was a little kid. So I could just scream and be mad. ...more

Cousins Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki brilliantly capture the liminal time between being a teenager and being a child in their new graphic novel, THIS ONE SUMMER. Rose and Windy are friends who hang out every summer when their families visit Awago Beach. They like swimming and buying candy and renting R-rated videos, which they can get away with since the teenage clerk doesn't really care.
They're at the age where they're starting to clue into things like sex jokes, but don't really understand ...more
They're at the age where they're starting to clue into things like sex jokes, but don't really understand ...more

This is my first graphic novel! I decided to read this book for Freedom to Read Week as this book has been banned in certain states in the U.S. Some libraries in Florida as well as a school in Minnesota have banned it because of some profane language. This book is marketed for 12-18 yr old.
We meet Rose and Windy, both pre teens, who always reconnect at the cottage over summer. This is a different summer though- it is not happy go lucky as per their usual. Rose's parents are fighting; things are ...more
We meet Rose and Windy, both pre teens, who always reconnect at the cottage over summer. This is a different summer though- it is not happy go lucky as per their usual. Rose's parents are fighting; things are ...more

May 03, 2014
Stacey (prettybooks)
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
young-adult-fiction,
read-in-my-twenties
This One Summer was the third book I picked up for my (unofficial) summer reads challenge. I spontaneously bought it a few months ago while paying a visit to Foyles, Charing Cross Road. I love the large graphic novel section in the shop and I bought This One Summer along with
Through the Woods
– and I'm happy to say that I really enjoyed both!
I was expecting a cute and fluffy, picture perfect story about two girls and their summer friendship together in a beautiful beach cottage, enjoying th ...more
I was expecting a cute and fluffy, picture perfect story about two girls and their summer friendship together in a beautiful beach cottage, enjoying th ...more

Spoilers
I would have liked this more if the main character (Rose) hadn't been an absolute cow who did nothing but slut-shame girls she didn't even know. And when she wasn't doing that she was being bitchy and judgemental about her depressed mum. Unsurprisingly, when it came to the guys around her, she was all about worshipping them and excusing all their douchey behaviour. I was expecting a summery sort of read about two teenage girls growing up and whatnot. Instead I got a female hating, selfis ...more
I would have liked this more if the main character (Rose) hadn't been an absolute cow who did nothing but slut-shame girls she didn't even know. And when she wasn't doing that she was being bitchy and judgemental about her depressed mum. Unsurprisingly, when it came to the guys around her, she was all about worshipping them and excusing all their douchey behaviour. I was expecting a summery sort of read about two teenage girls growing up and whatnot. Instead I got a female hating, selfis ...more

So yes, I have definitely never been all that much a fan of graphic novels (or perhaps more to the point, I have never been all that much a fan of most graphic novels, for there are actually a very select few comic book series, such as Asterix and Obelix and even some of the later Tintin books that I have indeed rather enjoyed), and I really only decided to download and read Mariko and Jillian Tamaki's This One Summer because it won a 2015 Caldecott Honour designation and we were n fact reading
...more
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Goodreads Librari...: Update cover | 4 | 21 | Jul 23, 2019 08:10PM | |
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Mariko Tamaki is a Toronto writer, playwright, activist and performer. She works and performs with fat activists Pretty Porky and Pissed Off and the theatre troupe TOA, whose recent play, A vs. B, was staged at the 2004 Rhubarb Festival at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. Her well-received novel, Cover Me (McGilligan Books) was followed by a short fiction collection, True Lies: The Book of Bad Advice
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Articles featuring this book
If you love reading as much as our colleagues, then your summer fun itinerary will most likely include books. To help inspire...
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4 trivia questions
More quizzes & trivia...
“I guess if Dunc and I got married.....we would live in an apartment first. With regular jobs. Then. Then we would get good jobs.
And.
And he would go to medical school.
Um.
And I would take time off to have one.
Perfect. Baby.”
—
1 likes
And.
And he would go to medical school.
Um.
And I would take time off to have one.
Perfect. Baby.”
“Don't worry about any of this stuff, okay?
It's all just adult junk that doesn't mean anything.”
—
1 likes
More quotes…
It's all just adult junk that doesn't mean anything.”