Concerning & Potentially Concerning Content

The cute cover will cause many parents to miss the serious subject matter that this initial title focuses on. Sunny is visiting her grandpa’s house for the summer. Over the course of the short graphic novel story we discover this is because her parents need to deal with her older brother, who is an addict. Unlike “Hey Kiddo” (see previous review), this book does attempt to do this in a way that takes the audience in mind. The book is cautious and aims to carefully walk through this unfortunately common situation through the eyes of Sunny, a young girl. That being said, this is obviously a heavy topic for the age group that will be the most likely to pick up this title. Sunny’s older brother’s addiction is revealed slowly. We see him taking a small paper bag from someone outside of a store. We see him sitting under a shady bridge smoking something. He speeds by and throws a beer bottle out of the car. In the climax of the situation, we see Sunny’s Dad approach him to attempt to take his beer from him. Sunny tries to jump in-between the two of them only to catch her brother’s punch, intended for her dad, in her own shoulder. Sunny’s grandpa wrestles with his own addiction. Many times we see Sunny find his hidden cigarettes (something he eventually says sorry for and gives up, presumably for good). A few other items to know about. There is a reference to a “champagne dance party”. Comic books, which are typically very dark today, are shown in a very positive light. An encyclopedia entry on Pompeii shows bodies captured in disturbing ways (in picture).