ChickenpoxReview posted September 11, 2025.
Henry Holt and Company, 2025. 235 pages.
Review written July 15, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review
You'd think stories about chickenpox would lose their popularity now that today's kids are almost all vaccinated. But this graphic novel is hugely popular at the library - a fictionalized version of the author's family when all five of them came down with chickenpox.
We've got the perspective of Abby, the oldest - who is horrified at the thought of ten days with her siblings when they all come down with chickenpox. When the younger ones squabble, Abby as the big sister is generally the one who's told she should calm things down.
And while Abby's out of the action, there's some friend drama at school - which of course her younger siblings only make worse if they get the slightest whiff of what's going on.
But most of my fondness for this graphic novel came from nostalgia. Because when I was in second grade, my older sister brought home chickenpox, and the other four of us all caught it and stayed home from school together for two weeks. I was third, not oldest like the protagonist - and my parents went on to have eight more kids. But when we had chickenpox, there were five kids, just like in this book - and yes, the chaos seems accurate.
I still say there's nothing like a graphic novel for conveying the chaos and intense emotions of middle school. Turns out, it's also great for showing the chaos of a big family of kids all home with chickenpox.