Margin Notes

“‘How do you say goodbye to these kids? We might never see them again. Like, ever.’ ‘Perhaps. But you say goodbye to them knowing how lucky you were to spend the week with them. Some families will get back for another camp session next year. Some might not. But in the here and now? This group is on land together, and that’s a beautiful thing.’”

Jarrett J. Krosoczka’s Sunshine is a graphic memoir depicting the summer the author volunteered for a week at Camp Sunshine, a summer camp for kids diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses and their families.

Told through the medium of the graphic novel, Krosoczka pairs beautifully illustrated images with insightful and authentic dialogue and narration, that come together to tell a visceral and moving story.

At just 16, Jarrett was living with his grandparents in a home where difficult things were often left unspoken. At school, he found himself on the outside of the social circle, a nerdier kid with a knack for drawing. After a lucky draw, Jarrett was given selected as one of six teens to spend a week volunteering at Camp Sunshine. Though he was certain the week would surmount the concerns of those around him—who worried the week would be utterly depressing—this certainty came to a halt when he was assigned the role of a one-on-one support for hesitant a camper in a wheelchair. Soon enough, these concerns faded away, as Jarrett witnessed how to uncover hope and living within the guise of the insurmountable.

This coming-of-age story is told masterfully in this medium, as Krosoczka literally illustrates how colours can be found in darkness. It is rich with artistic elements to be discussed by new and experienced readers of the medium. The addition of the dialogue between adolescence, both those who are experiencing the life-threatening illnesses and those volunteering at the camp, are profound, but authentic, reminding readers of the emotional magnitude of life for all ages, and how important it is to see these real, vulnerable conversations. As well, the added narration from a removed, now adult, Jarrett is a testament to how such profound experiences shape us long after they’ve passed.

This graphic novel not only introduces young adult to important themes of coming-of-age, but also the power of the graphic novel. Often dismissed for its supposed lack of sophistication, Sunshine proves here to be a powerful medium for conveying complex topics with a depth that words alone may not achieve. Sunshine is an essential addition to any classroom and an ideal recommendation for young people—both for those who are still building their reading confidence and for proficient readers eager to explore new forms of storytelling.

Tasia King is a current BEd student at the University of New Brunswick. She is a recent graduate of Dalhousie University and is passionate about the importance of exploring and seeing different mediums of text, like graphic novels, as valuable and masterful literature. When she is not completing her schoolwork, she can often be found procrastinating said schoolwork by walking the trails of Fredericton or sinking into a good psychological thriller movie that she will consequently force all her friends to watch as she excruciatingly over-explains every detail.