This One Summer

This One Summer is a Canadian young adult graphic novel written by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by her cousin, Jillian Tamaki. Mariko Tamaki has written several graphic novels, and has worked for both Marvel and DC Comics. This One Summer was originally published in 2014 by Groundwood Books, and follows the summer experiences of two young girls approaching adolescence and watching their parents cope with the various pressures of adulthood. The novel has been the recipient of criticism in relation to its sexual themes—however, it also received awards, most notably becoming the first graphic novel to receive the Caldecott Honor in 2015.

This guide is based on the 2014 Groundwood Books edition.

Content Warning: This One Summer discusses sexuality, suicide, a miscarriage, and includes profanity.

Plot Summary

This One Summer takes place during a summer at Awago Beach (in Ontario, Canada) as preteens Rose and Windy discover that adulthood is more complicated than it seems. Twelve-year-old Rose is on her way to the beach for the summer, and when she and her parents, Evan and Alice, arrive, she leaves almost immediately to see Windy. Windy is 10 years old, passionate about music, and lives an eclectic, spiritual life with her mother Evelyn; Windy’s father is often away working. She and Rose are summer friends who have known each other since they were young, and they talk to each other about everything. They go to the beach and catch up on their summers so far, and then head to the local store, Brewster’s, for some candy. There, Rose and Windy watch as the clerk, Duncan, flirts with and kisses a girl, Jenny, in front of them. Rose laughs it off, but Windy seems uncomfortable in the situation (later calling Duncan “the Dud”).

The next day, Rose thinks back on her younger days at Awago Beach as her mother, Alice, braids her hair. She remembers collecting rocks with her father and the time she and Windy collected milkweeds to eat, assuming they were magical. Rose’s mother found them in time and warned them of the plants’ poisonous nature. Rose invites her mother to the beach, but she declines, so Rose meets Windy there. They discuss the breast sizes of various girls and women they know, and Windy admits that, because she is adopted, she is uncertain how big hers will be. She and Rose joke about breasts until a couple of adults pass by and scold them.

When the pair heads to Brewster’s for candy, they overhear Duncan’s friend call two girls “sluts”. Rose repeats this word at her family’s cottage, and her mother warns her not to speak about people that way.

A series of splash pages and large, textless frames follow, depicting the next day’s events and the time which they occurred. It is an ordinary day in which Rose reads, eats lunch, bikes, plays games with her father and Windy, and examines the way her hand appears through a translucent leaf. Rose and Windy’s families eat dinner together, and when dusk falls, the girls decide to rent The Texas Chain Saw Massacre from Brewster’s. They overhear some teenage girls talking about sperm and blow jobs, and the teens yell after Rose and Windy, teasing them. During the movie, Windy becomes terrified and distracts herself by asking Rose about oral sex. Windy finds it disgusting, but Rose admits she would do it if she was in love.

In an aside, Rose admits she learned about sex from school. She draws a birthday card for her mother as Windy dances around the room. The girls play M.A.S.H. ( a fortune-telling game that stand for Mansion, Apartment Shed, House), and Rose thinks about what her life would be like if she married Duncan. They then run to the beach once more, and two pages of painted waves follow.

Walking home, Rose and Windy hear the teenagers doing something in the forest, but Windy wants to go home rather than investigate. At home, Rose and her parents enjoy a cheerful dinner, but soon afterward, Rose’s parents begin to argue about Alice’s mood. It is slowly revealed that Alice attempted to have another child and could not, and the disappointment led to depression. Rose is sensitive about this topic, and acts defensively when Windy mentions it casually; the former is approaching adolescence while the latter remains childish and spirited, and this begins to cause conflict between them. Rose develops a crush on Duncan and wants to impress him by watching more horror movies; Windy decides to eavesdrop on the teenagers on Rose’s behalf while Rose goes back to the cottage to greet her maternal aunt and uncle.

Rose’s Aunt Jodie and Uncle Daniel are, in her opinion, childish for their age. Rose overhears her aunt and mother discussing how Alice still feels depressed. The family goes to the beach, and there, Daniel drinks beer and pressures Alice into swimming. She refuses, but he tries to take her by the arm. Alice pushes Daniel and leaves the beach angry. Rose goes for a swim to escape the situation. Her aunt and uncle leave shortly after, and Windy comes over to spend time with Rose. They watch Jaws, and Rose thinks about the time her mother nearly drowned and the fight her parents had the night before.

After the movie, the girls walk in the woods and find a deer which leads them to the teenagers’ spot. Rose examines the various discarded objects until Windy asks to go to the beach instead. There, the girls go swimming and become enveloped by the water until evening comes. Rose swims back to her cottage alone, and there, her father tells her that he is leaving for a few days.

At the cottage, Rose examines her family’s ongoing rock collection and wonders if her family will ever be the same again. She goes to Brewster’s to rent a DVD and overhears Duncan and his friend talking about how Duncan is too scared to call Jenny, his girlfriend, after finding out she is pregnant (which was hinted at by Windy after she eavesdropped). Rose and Windy watch Friday the 13th, and Rose hopes Jenny’s baby is not Duncan’s. Four days after Evan’s departure for the city, Rose, Windy, and Windy’s family go to the local heritage center where Jenny works; she is harassed by two teenage boys for being pregnant. There, Rose becomes increasingly irritated by the atmosphere and cannot seem to stop thinking about her mother. At home, she confronts her mother, accusing her of being preoccupied with a baby she will never have and neglecting the child she does have; she tells her mother that she is always unhappy and wonders why she came to Awago Beach at all. Rose goes for a walk alone.

At the beach the next day, Rose tells Windy that she thinks Jenny is cheating on Duncan (as a boy who wasn’t Duncan comforted Jenny after she was harassed at the heritage center), and that it is Jenny’s fault that she is pregnant. Windy thinks Rose is being sexist, which makes Rose angry, and she swims off on her own. She goes to Brewster’s, where she overhears Duncan and his friend talking about Jenny. She decides to explore the area and finds an old junkyard behind the store. There, Duncan finds Rose, and tells her the area is off limits. Rose wants to tell Duncan what she thinks of Jenny, but she decides against it and runs away.

Rose’s father Evan returns, but there is still tension between him and Alice. The conflict deeply affects Rose, who has a difficult time at her and Windy’s family’s bonfire. Before meeting at the fire, Rose and Windy go to Brewster’s to get marshmallows, and on their way out, Jenny and her friend arrive and start screaming at Duncan. Rose and Windy leave in silence, not knowing how to feel or what to say.

At the fire, Rose goes to wash her hands in the lake and hears some teenagers screaming for Jenny. She notices Jenny floating face-up in the water and screams for her mother. Alice runs over and dives into the water without hesitation, pulling Jenny to safety. That night, Alice and Windy’s mother Evelyn wonder if Jenny was trying to end her life, and Alice admits that she had a miscarriage in the lake the summer before and never told Rose about it.

The summer comes to an end, and Rose and Windy spend one last day at the beach digging a giant hole. They soon say their goodbyes while lying atop Rose’s family car. They take in the sights and smells of Awago Beach one last time, and think about the next summer, wondering if they will see each other again. Windy insists that Rose has to come back so she can see how much her breasts have grown. On the drive home, Rose thinks about becoming a woman, and looks forward to it, despite how difficult adulthood has proven itself to be.