Chickenpox - Remy Lai - ★★★

AUTHOR: Remy Lai

GENRE: Graphic Novel

PUBLICATION DATE: January 14, 2025

RATING: 3 stars.

In a Nutshell: A middle-grade graphic novel about a teen girl's chickenpox quarantine time with her younger siblings. Partly biographical. Great sibling dynamics and chickenpox info. 😉 Hit or miss on the other themes. A decent option for the target age group.

Plot Preview:

Once upon a time, Abby had wished for a younger sibling. But after her parents have given her FOUR younger siblings, the twelve-year-old has had enough! She's tired of being the responsible eldest child and fed up of her siblings’ immaturity. She tries to spend as much time away from home as possible, either at school or going out with her best friends. But when all five siblings get chickenpox, Abby faces a horrifying truth: she needs to stay quarantined in the house with those *animals*! How will she survive without losing her sanity?

The story is written in Abby's first-person perspective.

I have heard a lot about Remy Lai's graphic novels, so I was excited to finally read one of her books. My experience though is somewhat mixed.

The title and cover give away the key conflict of the book, if I can call it that. Five siblings driving each other nuts while covered in red chickenpox bumps – exactly as fun as you can imagine!

A part of me empathised with Abby's annoyance at being the oldest sibling. While I have only one younger sibling, I've still gone through the same wringer, always blamed when things go wrong and always told to be the responsible elder one. So tiresome and unfair! Abby's frustrations are far greater, given that she has four times as many younger siblings to deal with. 🤭

Then again, Abby herself is also at fault, which she takes a long time to understand. Her behaviour towards her siblings is quite problematic, and she doesn’t shy away from calling them names. While I like that a middle-grade book showed an older sibling who still has some growing-up to do, I wish some of the more negative behavioural patterns had been avoided. As Abby gets quite annoying at times, it is tougher to root for her wholeheartedly.

The younger siblings are different in age. Despite how Abby behaves with them, it's clear that they enjoy bugging their older sister, like all younger siblings do. 😄 However, we rarely get to see their individual temperament. Only the second sibling’s maturity and her love for books come out clearly.

This story is partly based on the author's experiences. Unexpectedly, the author is not the eldest sibling but the middle sibling, and the only one whose name and personality traits aren't changed for the fictional version.

Chickenpox is almost a character in this story. I love how the author wove it into the narrative and also provided little informative notes about the development of the disease. Currently, there's a vaccine for chickenpox so it rarely occurs at that level of severity. Perhaps this book would also be a great way of making kids understand the importance of vaccines. (What sad times we live in when vaccines aren’t trusted but crazy despots are!)

One of the subplots deals with Abby's bond with her two best friends from school. This is the only track I didn't enjoy so much as their communication was pretty shaky for besties. They seemed to bond only over gossip and makeup, which might be true of some teens but not something I like to read in graphic novels. But it was good to see them come to realise how much of their insecurity and sadness was based on assumptions.

The story is set in mid-1990s Indonesia, so it offers a good nostalgic look at some technology that was new or in prominence then but has already become outdated now.

Overall, this is an entertaining story with some fun moments and some emotional bonding across siblings and friends. I just wish it had a bit more depth and maturity. Given that it's meant for middle-graders, it could have done better on the ‘setting the right example’ bit.

Recommended, but not as a must-read. There are better MG books. This can be tried mainly for the look at chicken pox, I suppose.