Sincerely, Harriet

A warm and moving graphic novel that follows the life of Harriet, a very creative teen, and her isolating summer in the heat of Chicago. There is a friendship with a old lady next door named Pearl, a mysteriously locked room on the third floor, some letters to friends left unanswered, and most importantly, the love and support that a family can bring in time of hardship. It reads like a long summer, slowly, smoothly, with a deep attention to details and to ephemeral emotions. I highly recommend it.

Thank you NetGalley and Lerner Publishing Group for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Read and reviewed: 2018-12-03

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Harriet Flores recently moved to Chicago with her family. It's still the summer, so she doesn't have an easy way to connect with new people. Even worse, her old friends from summer camp aren't responding to her letters. Harriet's parents are both settling in at new jobs, working lots of hours, and she's left feeling very lonely.

Over the course of the book, Harriet builds a relationship with Mrs. Pearl, her downstairs neighbor. They connect over books, writing, but also over living with chronic illness – it turns out that Harriet has MS, while Mrs. Pearl's son had polio back in the 1950s.

I loved how bits of information about Harriet were revealed slowly. At first, she seems to just be a sullen teenager with a tendency to tell lies. But as more of her experiences come to light, you can see that Harriet is desperate for some genuine connection, especially someone she can relate to about her illness. There are some great literary references, but apart from maybe recognizing titles, I'm not sure many students would make the connections. I loved the artwork – it was comforting and added a lightness to a story that otherwise could be depressing. Overall, this is a strong title that I would recommend.

3.5 stars

Sincerely, Harriet follows Harriet, a young Latinx girl who has found herself bored and lonely after moving to a new place. Not only does she not know anyone in her new town, but her parents both have to work overtime or multiple jobs, and her friends from summer camp aren't even taking the time to write her back.

We quickly learn that her loneliness has caused her to become this habitual liar with a poor attitude, so she isn't the most likable protagonist, but there's definitely some growth to be had as she explores her own feelings and fears regarding her recent MS diagnosis. She befriends the elderly woman downstairs who teaches her about her oldest son's experience with polio in the 50s, and begins to find an outlet for her imagination as well as her loneliness. She's also forced to come to terms with feelings she seems to have for a girl from her summer camp the year before, which is a little painful to watch, but I appreciated what felt to me like a subtle tell of some sort of queer representation.

The artwork is cute, and I liked the representation a lot, but the plot itself doesn't have much to offer, so I have a hard time deciding when I would or would not recommend Sincerely, Harriet.

Thank you so much to Graphic Universe for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!