Remy Lai in her latest graphic novel, Chickenpox, published by Allen and Unwin, takes the reader into the world of twelve-year-old Abby Lai who is keen for any opportunity to spend time away from home, aka the wild zoo, where her four younger rambunctious siblings in equal measure annoy, embarrass and frustrate her. Set in Indonesia in 1994, the children develop Chickenpox and are forced into quarantine while their father is away on business. Abbey is keen to help her Mama to “keep the little ones in line”. It’s not smooth sailing on the home front with mayhem and chaos often the order of the day, coupled with a misunderstanding between Abbey’s friends at school. This story, full of heart and humour, holds a mirror up to readers 8+ navigating family dynamics and/or friendship issues. It explores how challenging times often give reason to ponder and evaluate beliefs and attitudes which gifts the chance to alter your thinking and actions.
The story begins with Abby’s friends, Monica and Julia coming over to her house, the wild zoo. Abbey’s younger siblings have a knack for bringing out her frustrated side that her friends have never seen. Abbey completely and dramatically loses her patience with her younger brothers and sisters in front of her friends. At school it is revealed that Julia has chickenpox and unbeknownst to the Lai family, Julia was contagious while visiting their home. It doesn’t take long for the virus to strike each child down and force them into isolation.
This time of isolation tests the family. As the children endure the different stages of chickenpox there is boredom to overcome, then the sickness takes hold and the requests for stories, food, drinks and finding a show on the television are endless and exhausting for Abby. Day four of quarantine see the children feel very itchy and want to scratch all the time. Irritability sets in and the seemingly endless fighting ensues.
Abby desperately misses school and tries to talk on the phone with her friends all while mayhem is often unfolding around her. Not attending school makes Abby feel isolated. A misinterpreted conversation over the phone leads to a misunderstanding. Abby decides to take charge of the situation and confront who she thought was Julia over the phone. During a time when there is no such thing as text messaging or caller identification, conversations can easily be misconstrued and the ramifications amplified. However, in this instance it is nothing that some courage and communication can’t resolve.
The highly expressive and lively illustrations are a joy to savour and soak in the glorious details and symbols. Remy Lai is a master of deftly conveying the character’s emotions, attitudes and reactions in the illustrations.
Remy supports the reader with the technology and what may be unfamiliar to today’s readers when including aspects from the 1990s. Indonesian culture is also included such as the nearby hotel opening its pool to the public for a fee as there are no community pools, in the event of no pedestrian crossing, jaywalking becomes a necessary life skill.
This story with drama, heart and humour shows that family is always learning, growing and changing.