This book, in its little kid attracting colorful graphic novel form, is full of modern issues Christian parents will not want in front of their children.
Two farmers live next door to the family home. In this book we see the illustrated implication that the seem to be a “couple”. They stand close in pictures and there is a quick reference to “our nephew”. This is one of the reasons we decided to review the whole series and, as we feared, in the two books that follow, after the young reader is drawn in, the author goes further to show these men as in fact being romantically involved.
Mom and her new boyfriend have moved in together and this is shown as completely normal. Jen’s mom’s boyfriend is also divorced and has his kids visit on weekends.
The main character Jen leaves a lot to be desired. The book opens with her making a list of things she hates, which begins with chores and mom’s new boyfriend. Especially early in the book, whenever mom asks her to help she complains, sighs, makes rude comments, rolls eyes, etc. She says things like, “Fine” and “Geez. Ok, fine”. Even worse, mom does not correct her for this type of behavior. She really has a terrible attitude for much of this book. When mad she storms off and completely ignores her mom and mom’s boyfriend calling her back. At one point in frustration she tells her mother, “Well, you’re failing. You failed at being married and now you’re failing at this stupid farm”... so there’s that.
The “mom’s boyfriend” character is one that is really unkind to Jen. In the extra content of one of the books the author mentioned he is one of her favorite characters because of his impact on the reader, but we would have to strongly disagree. His attitude and the response he pulls out of Jen are almost entirely negative. One of his daughters calls her sister a crybaby for sincerely missing her mom. She also tells Jen “sisters are overrated. You have to share everything with them, and you fight a lot”.
Another major concern has to do with the author’s other works. This is her first graphic novel for kids. So what are the other several books, and why are they advertised at the start of this colorful book for kids? Well one we saw includes this in the description “follows Lucy’s personal transition into motherhood but also illustrates the history and science of reproductive health from all angles, including curious facts and inspiring (and notorious) figures in medicine and midwifery”.
Other items to be aware of:
Comic books are shown in a positive light (they tend to be very dark and often immoral today)
A girl in a comic says she needs to look “flirty”
The term jerkface is used
Under a list of options Jen considers “run away” is listed
A flashback shows a fight between mom and dad pre-divorce
The girls decide to “tell secrets” and are then shown whispering to each other