This One Summer is a coming of age graphic novel about two girls on the cusp of growing up. Their families spend every summer in the small town of Awago at two beach condos right next to each other. So although Windy is a year and a half younger than Rose, they're still summer time best friends.

This is a quiet book. One might not think that from the occasional cursing, talk of sex, and exploration of what it will mean to have boobs one day. But the action of this story is mostly second hand. The girls watch the teenagers of Awago deal with the news that one of their teenagers, Jenny, is pregnant. The girls speculate about Jenny's life and about her boyfriend, who they simply refer to as "the dud". Rose also witnesses her mother's depression, not really understanding why her mom has to go around making everything and everyone sad. It's supposed to be a vacation after all.

There is no big climactic moment, which is generally how our lives play out. There is a reveal about both Jenny and Rose's mother, but there's no real resolution. Again, that's generally how our lives play out.

I had to sit with this one for a minute to understand the point. I think this book is about the summer where Windy and Rose realize how the world perceives women and how they themselves fall into the same trap of judging other women for having emotions and for having sex or being "weird" and unconventional. This isn't comfortable to read, but having been a preteen girl, I can remember that it wasn't comfortable to experience, either.

I don't think this is a book that teenagers (seemingly the target audience) will get on their own. I think this is a good book for mother/daughter or parent/child discussion, even as awkward as it could be. Awkward talks and experiences aren't bad. They're often necessary. After all, the darker adult world looms ahead for our teens, just as it does for Rose. The way to navigate it is together.