Saving Sunshine

'Saving Sunshine' is a standalone graphic novel by Saadia Faruqi and Shazleen Khan about twin siblings who are tethered together as punishment during a family trip to Florida. While fighting and bickering, the two find a sick and injured turtle and work together to try and save it.

This is a really heartfelt novel that deals with being an outsider in America, and there are several references to Islamophobia, comments about Zara’s hijab and questions about where the family comes from. One of my favourite moments is when the father talks with Zeeshan about this question and how he responds to it depending on the person’s intentions.

The narrative is separated into 6 chapters. Throughout these chapters there are flashbacks to pivotal moments in the twin’s middle school experiences to explain their interests and their strained relationship. The chapters are also littered with interesting facts about wildlife (to represent Zara’s interests in conservation) and space (to reflect Zeeshan’s obsession with NASA and the stars).

The artwork makes use of muted and pastel colours and has a watercolour feel which creates a bit of distance between the reader and the text, but also allows them to focus on the words of the texts more easily. This would be a good book for reluctant readers.