Jillian Tamaki uses a wide array of tools and techniques in her illustrations, infusing them with depth, realism, and emotion. How do the illustrations in This One Summer characterize, foreshadow, and contribute to mood and setting? Focus on 2-3 illustrations in particular.

Mariko and Jillian Tamaki worked together to create a unified work in which text and images come together to evoke specific themes. Examine this relationship between text and images. How does the text sometimes serve as an image itself? Which types of comic-style text and dialogue techniques are used, and how do they contribute to a reader’s understanding of the graphic novel?

Rose and Windy are close in age, but at different stages of their childhoods; Rose’s childhood is ending, as she’s approaching adolescence, and Windy is clinging to the innocence of childhood. How does this juxtaposition create conflict between Rose and Windy? Is this conflict ever resolved?