Chickenpox

By Remy Lai

Reviewed by Mia Macrossan

Remy Lai is the much awarded Brisbane based author/illustrator of  the popular graphic novels Pawcasso, Ghost Book and Read At Your Own Risk and more. She is adept at showing the mixed emotions of teens and preteens caught up in family and school life.

Her skill is particularly evident in Chickenpox, a hilarious family story about five siblings who all get chickenpox at the same time and are quarantined at home. It is set in Indonesia in 1994, a year before the vaccine became available and before mobile phones. Loosely based on the author’s own experiences the story is told from Abby’s point of view. She is 12, the eldest with four siblings, two sisters, (one of whom is Remy Lai herself) and two brothers. Abby hates being stuck at home, gets involved in fights with her siblings and misunderstandings with her friends.

Remy is wonderful at showing how the children react to the different stages of the illness and the mayhem that ensues when five children are confined to a house for a week. We see Abby in all her glorious emotional variety brought to life in comic graphic style.

This funny and heartwarming story about family, friendship, sibling rivalry and cooperation, and gaining self awareness will delight Remy’s many fans and deservedly win her many more.

Allen & Unwin Children 2025

Remy Lai