Suddenly Last Summer

Degrassi Extra Credit #2

by J. Torres, Ramón Pérez (Illustrator)

Get all of the drama Degrassi High School has to offer in the second book of the Extra Credit series as Emma gets her groove back only to realize things with Peter might not be as great as they once were, and Jimmy faces tough decisions after a hazing incident on the basketball team.

After a family trip to New York City and some helpful sessions of group therapy, Emma is convinced she has her groove back. But just as she returns to her old self, her relationship with Peter begins to suffer. She can’t figure out if Peter is helping her recover or just holding her back…

At the same time, Jimmy finds himself dealing with the fallout of a huge hazing incident while coaching at basketball camp. He is unable to determine if the initiation disaster was just a prank or if the kids intentionally crossed the line…and when the police get involved, Jimmy is faced with a tough decision.

This graphic novel takes fans beyond the hallways of the high school into the intense drama and tough decisions of their favorite characters in an expansion of the Teen Nick television series, Degrassi.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Young Adult, Comics

128 pages, Paperback

First published November 14, 2006

About the author

Comic book writer whose credits include the Eisner Award nominated Alison Dare, the YALSA listed Days Like This and Lola: A Ghost Story, as well as Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Love as a Foreign Language and Teen Titans Go, which garnered him a Shuster Award.

Reviews

[miss ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

like who cares idk. jimmy plot (which is of course what i was reading for) felt nonsensical. at least the spinner plot in the last one of these that i read felt like it made sense. also the way these books illustrate jimmy feels,,,,,,, well. it feels like maybe they should have tried a little harder. also why'd they make manny look like that.

[kory. · Rating 4 out of 5]

jimmy’s story about team hazing turning into assault was okay. but i love emma’s story, getting her environmental grove back and recovering from her eating disorder. seeing her with peter, in recovery, and getting back into knitting just made me want to rewatch “here comes your man,” which i used to watch all the time on my ipod touch over a decade ago. semma for life!!!! could’ve been a five star if it weren’t for the art style not being my favorite because it doesn’t really resemble the characters.

content/trigger warnings; eating disorder recovery, toxic relationship, bullying, assault,

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great way to expand the world of Degrassi for fans. I honestly wish they had made more than just four books for "Extra Credit". And I especially enjoyed how they gave you a place that the storyline can fit in between episodes. :)

[Kaycee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one better than the first one but I think it was because it was Emma, manny and Jimmy. Perfect for a degrassi fan

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was awful.

I think someone just told the author that Degrassi started in the 80s so EVERY pop culture reference was from there. Emma quoted a Janet Jackson song (from mid 1980s). Many name drops Go Ask Alice. Emma brings up Imelda Marcos (she apparently was a politician in the Philippines who had several thousand pairs of shoes - per the Google).

I will say that at least the author captured the douchey-ness of Peter. He is my least favorite character in TNG by far. God, he’s such a tool. This book also includes Derek, so they’re making their way down my worst characters list.

Also - WTF is up with the illustrations?!?!
No was identifiable at all. Terrible.

This book was so out of touch. Rubbish.

[Tess · Rating 3 out of 5]

soo cheesy but entertaining lol

[Geiosh A · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love seeing her go to therapy I'll go to a support group now so that's relatable I love seeing them go on a trip together trigger warning to eating disorder

[Mx.Lucey · Rating 5 out of 5]

CW: eating disorder,toxic relationship,hazing
I bounced back and forth trying to decide if the Alice In Wonderland references were too much or not. I like some of them and I feel if the book were a bit longer it would feel less heavy with them. They're pretty creative and deep and relevant but there's a lot of them. I wasnt a big fan of the direct Lorax line in the end mostly because a few pages before it ; on the Act 3 page they put the direct quote then have Emma say the quote. We dont need the quote twice ; us Broomheads and Narbos are pretty smart so we dont need you to put "I'm the Lorax I speak for the trees" 11 pages before Emma says "I'm Emma Nelson I speak for the trees" we would get the reference without your help. I did love them dropping the reminder of Emma's dad teaching her to knit when she meets him for the first time with Craig,I always forget about that. When you watch the show those seasons are so far apart and with so much going on a small detail that we can so easily forget or miss it completely. I always find it weird when she picks up knitting but this explains it and little things like that help you know this one is canon with the show unlike Exit Stage Left. I thought Jimmy's storyline would be lighter the way JT's was in Ellie's book&it kinda was but I wish we wouldve seen more of it. This kid is possibly assaulted but since there's no wheelchair ramp Jimmy doesnt see it so neither do we? kinda feels like a cop out. Hazing isnt good but its hard to know how to feel if we dont know what happens. I did love that we see Jimmy's famous tshirt drawing that ends up on Spinner's shirt&they start selling it. This book really sets up some details that I remembered from the show&when I saw them I the book it felt like the coolest thing! I love things like that. Like an inside hint but since this book was written&came out before that season of the show they were dropping hints at upcoming storylines. Its really cool but also if you didnt read the book you wouldnt be lost.

reread for a podcast,did a bunch of deep dives. I like this more now that I know the connections between Alice In Wonderland and eating disorders as well as Alice I Wonderland and Go Ask Alice. Degrassi does great with easter eggs and references. Can't wait to podcast about this one!!

[Alea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to start off with some information that covers all 4 of the Degrassi Graphic Novels. They read just like episodes of the show, with two main plotlines. All 4 take place basically in the summer between Seasons 5 and 6 with some overlap into those 2 seasons. I'm not sure if I would suggest them for people that aren't familiar with the show, they just kind of jump in where the show left off so there isn't much framework for someone that is new to these characters.

Also, all 4 are illustrated by different people, I'm going to guess the reason for this was because these all came out in a short amount of time and it would be impossible for 1 person to illustrate them all that fast. Though because of the way the different artists draw the characters it helps that there is a page near the front of each book that shows all the characters who are main players in that specific story.

I think Suddenly Last Summer is my favorite of the 4 graphic novels, and that's probably because part of it takes Emma and Manny and Emma's family to New York City! The other story involves Jimmy at basketball camp.

There is a great montage in the book that shows Emma and Manny in New York and the backgrounds are actual posterized photos of the city which makes for a really nice effect. I really like the sleek and stylized illustration this artist used as well, definitely my favorite of the bunch. I also really liked the Alice in Wonderland references.

All in all another great graphic novel from the Degrassi family!

[Jaz'mon]

This Is great this is a book i would read over and over again>>>

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

cool

[Grace Potter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great graphic novel, I love how the story begins with a parody of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". Overall, I enjoyed it!!!!! :)

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for any Degrassi fan.

[Justine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one wasn't as good as the first one because I feel like it left me hanging. I want to know what will come of the police station visit and what actually happened.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really didn’t like the art in this one - so much so that it overshadowed the entire story.

I’m assuming this had a different illustrator, because it was just so different from book one. Manny in particular is drawn hideously here!