Chickenpox
Remy Lai
"Younger siblings are like viruses. They're tiny, and they can make you sick."
So begins Remy Lai's ninth book, a graphic novel about a tween stuck in a two-week quarantine due to chickenpox. But 12-year-old Abby isn't the only one with chickenpox--her four younger siblings are also covered in the itchy red spots.
Lai won the Sid Fleischman Humor Award and received a Golden Kite Honor for her illustrated middle-grade debut, Pie in the Sky. That Lai took on feelings of confusion, homesickness, and loneliness and won a humor award for doing so shows just how talented she is as an author/illustrator. This semi-autobiographical work for middle-graders takes place in Indonesia in 1994 and includes asides that explain things like landlines, rotary phones, video cassettes, and laser discs. Lai balances crushes, friend alienation, and immense frustration with bright, confetti-colored illustrations and plenty of silly moments.