In the library, my eyes scanned the graphic novel section for new book. A small blue spine with pink stripes caught my eye. I took the book off the shelf and stared at the cover, “Sincerely, Harriet” by Sarah W. Searle. A young cartoon girl sat in a frame with curious eyes and a scraped knee. Intrigued, I checked out the book. 

As soon as I got home, I opened the fairly new book. It was released on May 7, 2019, so it hadn’t been checked out too many times. The first page was a cartoon image of a postcard from the Shedd Aquarium. My eyes glazed over the beautiful color pallet and I began to let this new story consume me.

“Sincerely, Harriet” by Sarah W. Searle is a middle grade graphic novel following a lonely girl named Harriet during the summer of 1996, when she moved to Chicago. 

Her first summer in Chicago is full of lonely hardships as parents work most days and she doesn’t have many friends. One of her routines is writing letters to her friends at home and new friends she makes along the way.

The graphic novel is full of dark undertones regarding health, mentally and physically. It is a quick easy read that I’d recommend for the curious minded and those who long to be understood. However, it is not the insightful read that one may hope it to be.

In order to fully enjoy this novel, you must read the synopsis. I prefer to read books knowing nothing before going into them, so I did that with “Sincerely, Harriet,” which brought me disappointment. The story did not unfold smoothly. 

In the beginning, it is a cluster of random scenes that only make sense if you read the synopsis or at the end of the graphic novel.

This made the first 80 pages go by quickly. At that point in the story, I was curious about the overall plot, but somethings were utterly confusing. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue. My curiosity got the better of me and I kept on reading. I’m glad I continued because after the 100 page mark, the random scenes turn into a beautiful story line.

Harriet is an odd main character to have for a story. She isn’t as honest as one would hope the main character to be. In the beginning, it is difficult to understand what’s happening because of this, but after you learn more about the character all you want to do is reread those scenes. 

By the end, I wanted more. The graphic novel has a satisfying ending, but it is clear that there is a lot of unexplored story left. There was so much time spent on the beginning of the story, but not as much on the end. I think if some of the early one scenes were cut out and there was a longer ending to flesh out the major plot then the story as a whole would feel less choppy and more emotional.

“Sincerely, Harriet” is a sweet story that deals with some issues that are hardly brought up in our society and deserves more recognition than it gets. Harriet is a complex character with compelling flaws and captivating ideals. Yet, I understand why the story line gets little recognition because it could’ve been executed better.

Overall I’d rate this novel a ⅗ stars. It was good, but not as fulfilling as I would hope. On multiple occasions I was curious why silly unrealistic things were happening. I do, however, think that the dark undertones will stick with me.