Publisher: First Second, 2024; 208 pp.
Graphic Novel
Grade Levels: 3rd - 6th (ages 8 - 12)
ISBN: 978-1250813749
Continental Drifter is the personal memoir of Kathy Macleod, from an American/Thai family. Even though Kathy loves her family, she is a bit embarrassed by her mother’s imperfect English, and her father’s age. He is quite a bit older than her mother and all the other kids’ fathers. Kathy just wants to blend in.
Kathy and her family spend the summers in Maine where her father grew up and the rest of the year in Thailand where her mother grew up. In Maine, the family seems more relaxed and happier. Kathy does not see other mixed Thai/Americans. Their family is together a lot and there is not much solitude like in Bangkok. Her father’s family lives nearby and is a large, happy, noisy family. They joke around a lot and show affection for each other.
In Bangkok, there are other mixed families and mixed celebrities. Her life in Bangkok is quiet and predictable. The family goes to different parts of the house to eat, read, study, play - pretty much for everything. They don’t socialize with each other very much. Solitude is the order of the family. When her mom comes home from work, they all go out to help bring in groceries, but after a short time, they retreat back to their own comfort zones.
This year Kathy and her sister go to separate summer camps for three weeks. Kathy is looking forward to camp, but when she arrives, she realizes that the other girls all know each other from previous summers, and she begins to feel left out. She doesn’t quite fit in. Her “foreignness” always gives her away.
Where does Kathy fit in? Where does she belong? Is her family normal? Many children have these thoughts and worries. Growing up can be hard when your life is different from other families. Enjoy this graphic novel about Kathy and her struggles to learn how families can be different and still normal.
Author: Kathy Macleod grew up in Bangkok, Thailand and spent summers in Maine. The situations described in the book are from her real-life experiences. She currently lives in Berlin, Germany.
Reviewed by Audrey Campbell, MED
Reading Specialist and Library Media Center Director
Valley Adventist Schools, Rogers Campus
By Nicholas Day, Art by Brett Helquist
