Jillian Tamaki

It’s Spring Break 2009 and three friends have five days in New York City. Over the course of their time there a fling blossoms between two of them, which causes the long-term friendship to be thrown off-balance.

Don’t know why I’ve found myself in books running around New York City with young adults, but I’m okay with it. It was actually kind of nice reading the graphic novel since it had a few places that were mentioned in my first book so I got to see them that way.

Everybody knows a Fiona - who is literally the worst and sucks the fun out of everything. Which is what drove me nuts about her and Dani’s fling. But, I will give the authors the credit in truly capturing the annoyance of Fiona as a whole.

On top of hating Fiona, I did find the ending just as unsatisfying. I was expecting maybe Fiona acknowledging how shitty she was - or at least giving a thank you for Dani and Zoe helping her out, or more of the group separating at the airport and going their separate ways. I get the symbolism of the ending - but I just wish there had been more.

Overall, it’s a good story about a group of friends on a trip one of them always dreamed of and it is not going exactly as planned. Wonderful depiction of that difference you have with your high school friends after going away to different colleges/universities.… (mer)

Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki’s This One Summer follows Rose Wallace and her family as they travel to Awago Beach for their annual summer vacation. Rose hangs out with her friend Windy, whose mother and grandmother rent a nearby cabin. The summer is told from the experience of two young girls, not quite in middle school, who have some ideas about the adult world from what they’ve seen and heard but are also in a transitional phase of their lives. Rose’s parents argue due to unspoken pain amid their inability have a second child, while Windy acts childish and knows far too much about the adult world. Horror movie rentals, local gossip, and beach trips mark their time while the world heaves around them. The Tamakis’ artwork and story perfectly capture a time all-too-familiar for their readers in a moving tale.… (mer)

Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki’s Roaming tells the story of Zoe and Dani, Canadian first-year college students who were friends in high school and arrange to meet up in New York City to fulfil a childhood dream of visiting the city. Joining them is Dani’s classmate Fiona, an art student who affects a too-cool-for-you attitude and seems more confident than them both. Zoe, recently discovering more about her identity, begins to crush on Fiona, who enjoys the attention and begins monopolizing Zoe’s time to the point that Dani often finds herself on her own. Their trip reveals how Zoe and Dani have begun to grow apart, though they work to maintain their friendship.

Set in 2009, the story also represents a time capsule of being a tourist at that time including printed-out MapQuest directions, limited Wi-Fi connections, concerns about roaming charges and cell phone use, as well as the need to make detailing rendezvous plans as one cannot necessarily text to find their companion’s location. Jillian and Mariko Tamaki perfectly capture the uncertainties and insecurities of being 19. In addition to the narrative strengths, the art is gorgeous, using expressionist styles to evoke the montages of a road trip film.… (mer)