Summer Fires is a graphic novel originally written in Italian and is now being presented for the first time in English. It is the story of one summer and two sisters discovering their sexuality and the relationship between the two of them. Set in the hills of an Italian town, the story highlights the uniqueness of each individual and that even as sisters, two girls can be vastly different.
In terms of graphics, this is a very simplistic graphic novel. The illustrations are in shades of black, white and a red-ish color, which features well and portrays a sense of fire throughout the book. The illustrations are simple and the type font utilized for the narrative is easy to read and does not add to or detract from the story. I was disappointed in the quantity of narrative between the two sisters. Billed as a book regarding the relationship between two sisters, I would have expected more interaction between the two.
This graphic novel is a quick read. It is unclear if it is meant to be part of a series where more relationship building will occur, but if not, the ending is quite abrupt and may leave readers doing a bit of head-scratching. It could also be that the novel just doesn’t translate as well into English. Younger readers should be aware of content cautions below.
Review of an Advance Reading Copy from the Publisher
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: 2 religious exclamations; 1 mild obscenity; 10 derogatory names; 3 scatological words; 10 anatomical terms; 13 f-word derivatives.
Violence/Gore: Playful kick to back; forest fire with destruction of property, but no loss of life.
Sex/Nudity: Reference to making out; hand-holding; kissing; multiple depictions of teen girls in bras and panties; teen girl is drawn naked in shower; multiple graphic pictorial scenes of naked teen girls being kissed, fondled and breast being licked as well as pictorial scenes of sex (given pictorial nature, highly graphic).
Mature Themes:
Teen pregnancy, abortion, bullying.
Alcohol and Drug Use:
Smoking, drinking, marijuana usage.
