Dear Rosie (Graphic Novel)

Recommended Audience*: None.

Opinion: Do not recommend.

Synopsis: The concept behind this graphic novel–learning to cope with the grief of a close friend passing away–had so much potential but ultimately did not deliver. The story line was weak and had just enough questionable content to push it from the “neutral” to the “do not recommend” category.

Advisories: mild crude language, engaging in dangerous/illegal behavior, reference to online boyfriend, etc.

Details:

While I was perusing books at the library, this one caught my eye; I was excited to see a book about coping with grief after losing a friend. The concept had so much potential. Unfortunately the book fell flat. Main character Millie desperately misses her late friend Rosie. When she finds a notebook that has a symbol she associates with Rosie, Millie tries to find out how the notebook is connected to her friend.

During this anticlimactic quest, Millie and her friends end up trespassing and vandalizing property (adding graffiti to an abandoned property). Later in the book, when Millie’s friend is feeling overwhelmed with grief, she attempts to runaway but chickens out. Honestly, the behaviors depicted were in my opinion dangerous, and I would not want my Middle Schooler to engage in anything similar. While I appreciated that this may truly depict how some tweens and teenagers cope with loss, I didn’t feel like it’s something readers would really benefit from, nor would I want them to emulate these behaviors.

Ultimately, there were very few takeaways that I felt would be beneficial for readers and too many negative behaviors portrayed. I didn’t feel like the storyline was particularly engaging or compelling either. While there’s not a ton of questionable content, the book just didn’t offer much and I wouldn’t recommend it.

Things I Liked:

• portrayal of friendship
• depiction of main character working in family business

Detailed Advisories:

• toilet humor: farting (p. 5)
• mild crude language: stupid, jerk (p. 36, 103, 179)
• name-calling: loser (p.45)
• belittling someone for their old/damaged phone (p. 51)
• disrespect to authority figure (teacher) (p.101)
• reference to online boyfriend (p. 113-5)
• trespassing (p. 124, 152-4)
• running away (p. 168)
• vandalism (p. 183-4)

Advisories Note: This list of advisories is not exhaustive and may not capture every instance of questionable content, but rather is intended to give an overall sense of the content of the book.

*Note: While we do not recommend this book to anyone, the intended audience indicated by the author/publisher is Middle Grades.