Little Sister Review

 

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis: Set in 1950s Newark, Little Sister follows the daily life of 8-year-old Jewish girl Susie and her older sisters Effie and Sandra who are 14 and 18 respectively.

 

My Thoughts: Plot and Themes (4/5) – At its barebones, it’s pretty standard slice-of-life fare one would expect out of a light children’s book. However, what struck me as unique to this book is not just its period-specific setting focusing on a Jewish family but how relevant their Jewish identity is to the various episodes throughout the narrative. This is something that comes up in some humorous contexts, one being an instance where Susie and her sisters try sneaking off to eat a non-kosher hotdog without getting caught by their mother. While this among many incidents is a byproduct of their faith specifically, they're still universal motifs I think most of us can relate to experiencing as children. In the hotdog episode’s case, it’s probably that inclination to try out that thing adults around us deemed taboo.

Though the comic remains consistently light-hearted in tone, there are a few parts where historical facets germane to the Judaic identity are approached earnestly (without ever becoming grim). Notably, it shows up when Susie’s elderly cousins from Poland (also referred to as the Old World) temporarily stay over at her family’s house after emigrating to the US. Susie, being unaware of the persecution Jews from that region went through, ends up learning part of it whilst reading a copy of Anne Frank’s diary she borrowed from the library. When she’s caught with the book, her parents tell her not to read it since they believe she’s not old enough to handle the material. It provokes an interesting conversation about how young is too young to learn about certain real-life horrors.

 

Characters (4/5) – Besides the main character, I found the rest of her family including her mother, cousins, and neighbors Charlotte and Arlene who were all sweet and caring in their way. There’s also the gossipy neighbor Mrs. McDermott who is an amusing personality though that’s mostly because of how indifferent everyone else is towards her gossip.

 

Art and Composition (3.5/5) – The art seems to be primarily done in light watercolor tones while the panel composition was borderless which added to the nostalgic qualities the graphic novel was aiming for giving it an extra charm. 

Nevertheless, one criticism I have is that more could have been done to distinguish some of the character designs, especially Susie and Effie who I often confused for one another because of how similar their facial features and height were despite the age gap.

 

Final Thoughts: Little Sister was a fun little read I’d recommend to middle-grade readers and older for its likable cast, humor, and deeper themes.

 

Thanks to Europe Comics and NetGalley for providing me with my first advance ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.