THIS ONE SUMMER Banned Book Review — For the Book and Against the Ban

Author Testimonial about This One Summer

"The circumstances in which I encountered This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki was in the midst of the golden fall, the season of change, transforming into the biting cold of winter. In that afternoon of reading, my heart was warmed while my eyes were glued to the page, trying to focus on each moment frozen within the purple-blue panels. Even after having known the critical acclaim the graphic novel had received, particularly as a recipient for the Caldecott Medal, nothing could have prepared me for the way I was enthralled by the narrative of two pre-pubescent girls, Rose and Windy, their friendship, and transition into the unpredictable world of adulthood over the course of a summer at the beach. Aside from the strong feelings of nostalgia that Tamaki’s text immersed me in, where I was reminded of the tumultuous emotional highs and lows I experienced as a teenager, the book provides a healthy discussion surrounding sexuality and growing up. With its Asian American protagonist, many young Asian Americans have the opportunity to see themselves in stories exploring empathy, patience, and self-discovery. It frustrates me that this psychologically nuanced text should be banned for being deemed profane, sexually explicit or including LGBT characters."

When, Where and Why This One Summer Has Been Banned

The graphic novel was published in Canada by Groundwood Books. It received multiple awards, such as the Printz Award honor, the Caldecott Medal, and the Governor General’s Literary Award for Children’s Illustration. According to the American Library Association (ALA), the graphic novel was banned in 2016, for featuring LGBT characters, profanity, and drug use, and for having sexually explicit references and “mature” illustrations. It ranked no.1 in 2016 and no.7 in 2018 as the most challenged book. The Guardian reported that the graphic novel faced particular prohibition in Seminole County, Florida and Henning, Minnesota, each as a result of a single parent’s complaint. This led to free speech protests, including a letter from the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), resisting these claims of “vulgarity”. This eventually led to the graphic novel being returned to a separate section and available only to tenth to twelfth graders, with parental permission.

In her response to the School Library Journal regarding the disputes and ban in Florida in 2016, Mariko Tamaki stated that her graphic novel is ‘listed as being for readers ranging 12-18. It contains depictions of young people talking about and dealing with, adult things. I think there are a lot of books, including a lot of great graphic novels, that should be made available to teen readers’. She additionally highlighted that there are individuals who experience discomfort regarding any conversation about sexuality, and in turn view it as inappropriate any young reader: ‘But really what expelling these books does is erase queer experiences, queer lives’. Illustrator Jillian Tamaki emphasized the graphic novel intends to represent ‘that time between childhood and adulthood very realistically, viscerally. It’s a messy, confusing, sometimes scary time. I think there can be some comfort in seeing those realities reflected back at you in art, when you’re living it yourself’.

Plot Synopsis / Summary

Set during a single summer vacation at the beach, a young teenage girl named Alice Wallace arrives at her cottage in Awago, a place she has visited regularly. There she meets up with her closest friend Windy, whom she has known for as long as she can recall and considers to be the sister she never had. They are inseparable, carrying out every and any activity together. Rose is the narrator of the story, and eighteen months older than Windy. Together with Windy, they experience movie nights, cook-outs, and exploration on the beach. They also investigate their developing adolescent crushes on and interest in boys, with Rose developing a crush on the teenager, Duncan, who works at the local video store. This causes both Rose and Windy to spend more time at the video store, making new adolescent friends, and are brought into the world of older teenagers, such as sexual notions and curse words. This makes them curious as to what the future has in store for each of them. During their experiences, both girls show an attentiveness to the turbulent existence of the adults surrounding them. Rose contends with an unstable, dysfunctional homelife, where her parents are constantly fighting, and her father leaves for days as a result of the arguments. Eventually, Rose begins to recognize that her mother, Alice, is experiencing an intense depressive episode after her infertility problems and consistent miscarriages. One of the local individuals that Rose and Windy encounter is Jenny, Duncan’s girlfriend, a teenager who becomes unwillingly pregnant.

Spoiler alert: In the final moments of the graphic novel, following Jenny drinking too much one night, Rose’s mother Alice rescues her from drowning in the lake, and discloses later that she experienced a miscarriage in that same lake the previous year.

Selected Excerpts that Epitomize Why This One Summer is a Valuable Contribution to Our Culture

Excerpt 1: Rose’s mother and father get into an argument

One excerpt that beautifully represents the essence of the narrative is the scene in which Rose’s mother and father begin a heated conflict as a result of Rose’s depressive episode, which inhibits the way she can socially interact with people. This not only affects Alice’s relationship with her husband Evan but her daughter Rose as well. This excerpt also begins to cover how the desire and pressure to have children can impact a woman’s mental health.

(Rose is reading a book in the living room. In the kitchen, Evan moves closer to Alice as she is washing the dishes. He kisses the side of her head, and she drops the bowl, which shatters into several pieces. Alice curses, and they both start picking up the pieces from the floor)

Alice: Don’t look at me like that.

Evan: I’m not looking at you like anything…. I. You know? Could you relax a little. Try to have a little bit of a good time.

Alice: I’m trying. It’s just. Being here…

(Evan puts his hand on her shoulder, but she shrinks from his touch)

Evan: Why both coming up here if all you want is to get as far away from us as possible.

Alice: What are you talking about?

Evan: Pfft.

Alice: You think that’s what I want. After everything that I went through, you think I want to be AWAY from my family? (Rose is overhearing everything) Do me a favour Evan, and let me know when I hit your minimum having-fun target okay?

Evan: I just think if you’re going to be miserable the whole time we’re here –

Alice: Don’t. Don’t do that.

Evan: I GIVE UP!

(Alice leaves the kitchen find Rose, who is behind her bedroom door)

Alice: Rose. Rose, can I come in please?

Rose: I’m going to bed.

Alice: (removes her glasses to rub at her eyes) Okay. Did you brush your teeth? Rose?

Rose: I’LL BRUSH THEM. Jesus.

Evan: Hey kid. It’s Dad. You want to go down to the beach and see the stars?Rose: No.

Evan: What if I want to go to the beach and see the stars? Come down to the beach. Five minutes. The stars and that’s it. No more than the stars.

(Evan and Rose walk through the forest. The full moon glows above them in the sky. They reach the beach)

Evan: Hey listen kid. Don’t worry about any of this stuff, okay? It’s all just adult junk that doesn’t mean anything.

Rose: (narrative text, against a starry backdrop) Two years ago my mom decided she wanted another baby. She took all these drugs. And did all this stuff. But no baby. Because my mom’s body didn’t want one. Or parts of it. UTERUS. Or something. So last summer she stopped Trying or whatever but they still fight about it. Like it’s still there.

Excerpt 2: Rose and her mother Alice argue about her “sadness”

This excerpt, taking place after Rose’s father has left the summer house for home, captures and further expands upon the difficulties that families, particularly children, can have in understanding a loved one’s experiences with depression. In spite of Rose’s lack of understanding and even hostility (accusing her mother of selfishness and being silly for wanting another baby), the narrative still creates an empathetic portrayal of both characters and their struggles.

(Alice sits in the kitchen, while Rose is in the living room on the couch)

Alice: Your dad and I –

Rose: You just want a baby.

Alice: No I –

Rose: Then how come there are books still? Baby books.

Alice: (covers her mouth) Oh Rose. When your father and I started trying I didn’t know…

Rose: (shouts) OH MY GOD SHUT UP! I don’t CARE!

(Rose slams the door shut. Alice places her face in her hands, glasses removed)

Rose: (emerges from the door): Why are you even HERE? You don’t swim but you won’t even come by the beach. If you hate it so much, you should be the one who goes home.

Alice: That’s not true. It’s not that – I wish I could explain…

Rose: It’s because you always have to have everything YOUR way. (approaches her in the kitchen) You’re making everything SAD. I bet you’re still trying to have a baby! Dad doesn’t even want one you know.

Alice: Rose that’s not –

Rose: Dad’s happy with just me. You don’t even WANT to be happy.

(Alice starts to cry. Rose looks concerned, like she has pushed too far)

Alice: I don’t know. I don’t.

(After a moment, Rose goes out with an umbrella in the pouring rain)

Rose: Leave me alone. DON’T FOLLOW ME.

(A dog is on the beach. A man in a raincoat approaches Rose)

Man: Hey young lady! Might not be best to be out here in a lightning storm.

Rose: It’s not lightning.

Man: Suit yourself. […] Some lessons are hard learned girl […] Certainly no need to be a smarty pants.

Excerpt 3:

The first real rift in Rose and Windy’s friendshipThis excerpt reflects the messiness that can exist in young adolescent relationships, particularly between teenage girls and their relationship to gender and shame. As they discuss Duncan, Rose’s older crush, and his girlfriend Jenny (who he got pregnant), Windy here finds herself separated from Rose as she calls out her best friends for her sexism, as Rose finds herself increasingly insecure following her immature conclusions about the adult world.

(Both girls stand amidst the waves on the beach)

Windy: Only fours days left.

Rose: Yeah.

Windy: It’s weird. We’ll never get to know what happens with Dud and that girl.

(Rose submerges under the water)

Windy: It’s like a TV show where we only get to watch the first two episodes.

Rose: What?

Windy: Nothing.

Rose: I think she’s cheating on him.

Windy: Why?

Rose: I saw her with some guy at Heritage Village.

Windy: Making out?

Rose: Like crying. But with this guy. They were hugging. Touching. You don’t have to kiss someone to be a cheater. I bet she was cheating. So typical.

Windy: Yeah but it could have been anybody. Maybe she has a brother.

Rose: Right. Sure. How do you know she has a brother?

Windy: How do you know she doesn’t?

Rose: Whatever. She probably doesn’t. Who hugs a brother?

Windy: I bet you she was just really sad. Maybe the Dud still hasn’t called her.

Rose: Whatever. Or she’s a slut.

(She goes underwater again, before coming up for air)

Windy: How come you don’t like that girl – Jenny. How come you don’t like her now? It’s like… it’s like you have something against her because she’s pregnant.

Rose: I don’t not like her. I just think. I think it’s stupid that girls can’t like take care of their stuff and then everything is fucked up. Maybe she deserves it.

Windy: Okay, but…

Rose: Why do you care?

Windy: No, I don’t… It’s just…

Rose: Windy, all the girls here are sluts.

Windy: It’s just that… that’s kind of… that’s kind of sexist.

Rose: WHAT?! Okay MOM. Guess I better not say SLUT in front of your or you’ll be all offended. Jesus.

Windy: No.

Rose: Kidding?

(Windy looks at her, hurt, before heading back to the shore)

Rose: Where are you going?

Windy: I have soap in my eyes.

(Rose looks after her. She plunges herself back into the ocean. She emerges one more time. And then dunks herself back in)

Book Structure/Details

The genre of this graphic novel is a contemporary coming of age. Its targeted age group is teenagers and young adults. There are five chapters in total, consisting of about 60 to 70 pages each. The total page count is 320 pages. Each page has a very specific art style that is critical to the story being told in the novel. From the serenity of the beach, the expansive sky and ocean depths, to the powerful woodland scenes of night-time and moonlight. The use of monochromatic blue, and dark purple- purple hues evoke the heat and sensation of summer.

Recommendations on Best-Match Audience for This One Summer

This graphic novel is especially poignant for readers aged 12 and above, particularly for young girls experiencing confusion over their identity, sexuality, and transition to adulthood. While this book is aged for readers 12 and up, adult readers will equally find this text rewarding in the way it reflects on the loss of innocence, in this reviewer’s opinion. It is welcoming to both straight and LGBTQ audiences, but the latter in particular, can relate to the sense of othering as a result of bodily identity, like with Windy, and mental health struggles, like Alice’s experience with depression. The novel carries a complicated and empathetic portrayal of a mother-daughter relationship, and the benefits of a parent or child in being open about their emotional struggles. There is an important insight into the way parents can fail as role models, encouraging the reader to comprehend them as fallible human beings who can and do still love and care for their children. In this way, without this graphic novel being readily available, young adult and adolescent readers will lose a vital resource that can help to decrease feelings of loneliness and instability, and a text that can provide the means to begin important conversations with family. It is for these reasons that book censorship and artistic prohibition are in my view detrimental to learning about the uncomfortable realities we must confront and antithetical to our development and growth not simply as readers but individuals.

Content warnings are for attempted suicide, miscarriage, and slut-shaming.

This One Summer Study Guide: Recommended Discussion Topics & Questions

• - What can be considered as “good” parenting?

• - How can one authentically portray the experience of depression (particularly when it is from another character’s perspective)

• - What are the ways female autonomy is restricted, particularly as it relates to teenage pregnancy?

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