Incendi estivi

by Giulia Sagramola

Due sorelle, un paesino del centro Italia, un'estate punteggiata da misteriosi incendi sulle colline e l'inquietudine di cosa sarà di loro. Le scelte, quelle non fatte, turbamenti e desideri taciuti. Giulia Sagramola, per il suo primo romanzo grafico lungo, sceglie un tono narrativo che costruisce lentamente, ma in modo assolutamente privo di incertezze, una storia potente nella sua sommessità. Illuminata da una sapiente doppia bicromia, la trama di Incendi estivi si propaga come un fuoco di sterpaglie, d'estate, quando nessuno guarda. Ma tutti lo vedranno.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Young Adult, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, Romance, Coming Of Age

204 pages, Paperback

First published November 12, 2015

About the author

Giulia Sagramola è un’illustratrice e autrice di fumetti nata a Fabriano nel 1985. Lavora per clienti italiani e stranieri come New Yorker, New York Times, Vice, Feltrinelli, Topipittori, Giunti. Insieme a Sarah Mazzetti e Cristina Spanò ha fondato e cura Teiera, che negli anni è diventata una tra le più interessanti etichette di autoproduzioni italiane. Il suo lavoro è stato premiato da Bologna Children Bookfair, American Illustration, 3x3 Picture Book Show e Society Illustrators Comic and Cartoon Annual. Dal 2015 vive ad Angoulême (Francia) dove ha una residenza d’artista alla Maison des Auteurs per lavorare ai suoi libri a fumetti e dove è stato realizzato Incendi Estivi, graphic novel pubblicato dalla Casa editrice milanese BAO Publishing. Nel tempo libero mangia gelati e spia i cani che vede per strada.

Reviews

[Jenna ❤ ❀ ❤ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overdrive had this book on a "Graphic Novels for Adults" shelf and since it's an Italian author and my partner always asks me why I don't read more Italian authors, I quickly placed a hold.

(Note: I don't read more Italian authors because the current ones who get translated into English tend to be genre fiction of the kind I dislike.)

So anyway. This book was recently translated into English from Italian and I didn't read the blurb, just decided to read it.

It is not an adult book. It is YOUNG ADULT. It is about 2 teenage sisters and the very common choices that confront modern teens. That is fine and dandy for YA readers but it wasn't really my cup of tea though I liked the artwork.

I'm a little grumpy because the only reason I can think of for it being on an ADULT bookshelf as opposed to YOUNG ADULT is that there is teenage sex and some boob pictures, complete with nipples.

I don't know what it is with the US and nipples but it seems like most people would rather suck on the muzzle of a rifle than even see a nipple, let alone suck on it.

A little bit of nip and people freak out. This will sound strange to much of the world but in America, nipples are practically feared. The ones on women, that is - male nipples are ok.

Also, many United Stateans hold the belief that teenagers should not be told about sex and certainly not see sex or they will be pregnant before the hour is over, have crabs infesting their crotches, and their noses falling off from a bad case of syphilis.

However, if you don't show them boobs or tell them some teens have sex, they won't ever think about doing it. They will remain innocent and virginal at least until their wedding night or maybe for their entire lives.

Obviously this is bullshit and yet we have this hangup about talking openly about sex or showing the least bit of skin.

This makes no sense to me because we're ok with kids being shown violence and even owning their own guns. There is no federal prohibition against children owning rifles or shotguns and it's perfectly legal in 30 states for kids to buy them, no age limit at all.

I will never understand this. Guns are about killing and death and we encourage that, or at least don't prohibit it. We're ok with children playing violent video games and watching violent movies.

But teens having consensual sex with each other? Or adult women showing nipples? Oh no, we're too moral for that.

This book is fine for teens and I'm glad to see many readers have put it on the YA shelf here on GR.

If you don't want your kids seeing a drawing of a breast or reading about teens who have sex, just know they're going to have sex if they want to whether or not you act like it doesn't exist.

The thing we should be concerned about is that they know how to protect themselves. Why can we teach young children how to protect themselves during school shootings but not teach teens how to have safe sex?

Priorities, priorities.....

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 3 out of 5]

A touching story about youths falling in love with other youths, and then awkwardly letting the relationship bleed out. The art is very European indie, if that means something to you. The colouring changes through the summer into autumn, which is a nice touch.

It's all well observed, and doesn't really work towards an overall point, which may bother you.

(Thanks to Dark Horse Books for providing me with a review copy through Edelweiss)

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a hundred percent sure what the point of this graphic novel was?? Ostensibly a story of two Italian sisters but I honestly couldn't figure out what the main plot points were or what the story was supposed to be about. Other than a fire, there wasn't much going on in this story and it was just okay (if not outright boring). Would not recommend.

[Nelliamoci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Incendi Estivi, poi, è soprattutto il tentativo di arrangiare il futuro, di quando si è in vacanza e si dovrebbe pensare al domani e invece ogni giorno si cerca di rimandare la scelta che tanto c’è tempo per crescere e pensare a cosa ne sarà del futuro, della fine degli studi o dell’università.

http://www.cosebellemagazine.it/gli-i...

[Haylee Perry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very boring and unclear. Someone is setting fires in the woods, a girl is ashamed of her boyfriend, and her sister is sleeping with a bunch of guys?? Idk

[Siobhan Ward · Rating 2 out of 5]

This just wasn't for me. Graphic novels can be tricky in that often they're short, which means that the plot needs to be succinct in order for it to make sense. In this case, Sagramola was covering a lot (pregnancy, love, drugs, bullying, the fires, etc.) and it felt like nothing got the time it deserved. Plot lines appeared and disappeared seemingly randomly and it felt like nothing was really resolved. I don't need a happy ending or anything but it felt like it ended in the middle.

[Hólmfríður Bjarnardóttir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stutt innlit í líf ítalskrar unglingsstelpu yfir eitt sumar.

[Juliana Wullenjohn · Rating 2 out of 5]

cute! that’s about it

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

idk why the ratings for this are so low, i loved the art style and thought the story about the sisters was really sweet

[IndiscretoEmpatico · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5
L'adolescenza mostrata sul limitare dell'area per "giovani adulti".
Il lessico e le tematiche ripropongono una quotidianità abbastanza stereotipata tra relazioni superficiali, sesso, gravidanze indesiderate, alcol, droghe e scelte per il futuro accantonate in favore di un amaro "lasciar scorrere".
La passività tende ad annientare sul nascere anche spunti potenzialmente interessanti, riducendosi ad una conclusione scarna.
I tratti e la scelta cromatica non mi hanno lasciato il segno, se non distinguendosi da molti altri.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would like to thank edelweiss and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. We follow two sisters and their friends over the course of one summer, revealing the highs and lows.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didnt mind the writing and the illustration style, there was a LOT of sex but hey ho. What I didnt get was... what was the point? I normally love coming of age stories, but I felt the point of this one got a little lost by the end, which is a shame.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the art in this book so much, but I was left wondering if something was lost in the translation from Italian (?) to English, because the story was just kinda blah.

[juliette]

oh to be an italian teenager in love in the summer. this was realistically sad and unresolved

[Daisy · Rating 3 out of 5]

tbh I dont hate that theres not a clear point. images tell stories differently than words do and this is a snapshot of 2 teens' summer, it totally fits in my mind. you touch down and as soon as the disorientation wears off, summer is over.
and the colour grading too...beauty

[Luna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing happens, supposed to be a story about how young love bleeds out but ends up being very boring....
If this wasn't a graphic novel I wouldn't have finished it

[Rachael Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book because my husband did. He spotted it while wandering around my department at work one day and was excited by all of the badn references so took it home to read. After he read it I figured that I may as well. It was a good book, interesting, evocative of a time.

When my husband was done with this he said that he didn't really know what it was about but that it felt like a bunch of snapshots of one summer. But when I read it I could see that it was about family and growing up. A coming-of-age story about teenage sex and missed opportunities and figuring out what really matters.

This was a quick read and I enjoyed it.

[Saturday's Child · Rating 2 out of 5]

The pace of this story was slow like a summer holiday can be for teenagers. A number of events occured but nothing felt like it was resolved and then school began again.

[Kevin Keating · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lame. Poor artistry. Lousy plot. Pretty hard to follow who is who, maybe because of the fact it was translated. It seems pandering by using as much foul language and some sex scenes to pander to the teen market.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think the graphic novel does enough to set the scene in Italy. I didn't read the back and didn't know it was Italy, thinking it was California (wild fires) and the one sister was going to Melbourne since it's not far from there, but finishing the story and realizing where it was set makes it a little odder to reflect on.

The graphic novel has the moody vibes that only graphic novels can give off with the color palette choices as sluggish movements of the characters trapped in summer heat and trying to make it through but the challenges of sex and relationships, friendships and family all converge that summer. It includes some provocative scenes that I can debate are necessary or unnecessary, it walks a line. It's a YA graphic novel, so yes, to not include it when it's a feature of the story would be insulting, however there are some panels that feel more about the manga fan service in this graphic novel.

But the atmosphere is the kind that I love in graphic novels and has all the feels like Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me.

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one feels personal & drawn from real life…summertime tales about teenage sisters coming of age in an Italian hillside town. The neighboring out-of-control wildfires provide apt metaphor for this Bildungsroman echoing their rampant explorations with desire, risk, and control.

Great playlist in the back-had I known it was there, I would have listened to it throughout the read as a soundtrack. Begging the question: why don’t they put stuff like that in the front of the book?

[Marek · Rating 1 out of 5]

2.8
Jeśli fraza czyta się bardzo szybko miałaby być zawoalowanym wskaźnikiem kiepskości, to "Summer Fires" wpasowuje się w tę kategorię lektur czytanych ekspresowo. Komiksowa natura pozwala na dowolne operowanie dwoma elementami, obrazem oraz tekstem, jednak w historii Sagramoli trudno jest znaleźć cokolwiek uchwytujące naszą uwagę - niezależnie od tego, w jaki sposób jest przedstawione. Strona graficzna jest zaledwie poprawna, a dialogi niemalże pozbawione treści, nad którą moglibyśmy się zastanowić.

W wielkim skrócie jest to historia o szukaniu siebie i miłościach, gdzie nastolatki mówią po nastolatkowemu i zachowują się najgłupiej jak tylko potrafią - co szczególnie widać po głównej bohaterce tej opowieści. Gdyby tylko autorka była w stanie umiejętnie nakreślić powody tych zachowań, nadać im jakiejkolwiek wartości, to może dałoby się z tego uratować choć trochę. A tak zostajemy z nijakimi, odpychającymi wręcz charakterami i zlepkiem wątków bez składu i ładu. A szkoda, bo w innych pracach ilustracyjnych Sagramola ma całkiem niezły styl i mogłaby zrobić coś znacznie lepszego niż to. Gorzej chyba się nie da.

[Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pros:
- The art was fine, even if it struck me as a bit plain
- The author includes lots of details that help flesh out the setting, from band shirts to a "playlist" of the included songs at the end of the work
- The story is a quick, easy read; it'll likely be a good fit if you are looking for something that can be digested relatively quickly

Cons:
- The story may be too mundane for some; it has a "slice-of-life" approach to its plot with only a few major "bumps" along the road.
- I could see how some readers may be turned off by the more salacious elements of the story, such as the MC's sister having a threesome or the casual drug use.
- (nit-pick) I've mentioned this before but I just don't really resonate with stories about high schoolers like I used to. I am listing this as a nit-pick because it's more a matter of my personal taste than a statement about the quality of the work.

Conclusion:
I can't say the work left a big impression on me, but I'm not really the target audience. Ultimately, this one is worth a look if you found the publisher's blurb intriguing. Beyond that, you'll probably be OK to skip this one.

[W · Rating 2 out of 5]

The artwork is very well done... sadly this ends my complements as the plot is a standard high-school drama where the main character learns that teens, including herself, are infact assholes. Oh and there was a fire. I was hoping for more... plot relevance of the whole mass arsonist, the book gets bored and forgets about it so we can have anouther scene of the main character crying while waiting for a text or anouther non-erotic, overly long, and frankly needless sex scenes. Honestly if it wasn't for the fire that is there and promptly forgotten, I would have liked the book more, but i only paid 25 bucks for this piece of shit because of the fire. Some people in the reviews have mentioned that graphic novels are heavily limited I page count, to which I say: why did the author ignore the fire mystery plot to focus her limited time and page count on -more than one- multi-page scenes of just the main character crying while waiting for a text instead of... you know... resolving the mystery.

The only reason this is not a one star is that I only give those out to books I don't think even tried and if it wasn't for the artwork I would have given this a one easily.

[Meg · Rating 2 out of 5]

*2.5* Random pick from the library shelf, as I'm trying to read a variety of new things this year without hemming and hawing for weeks on what to read. The art style was quite simple, and at times a bit confusing ("what am I looking at?"); one of those styles that makes you go huh, what made this get published and translated, especially because it's not saved by a good plot. A lot of reviewers seem to agree with this, and one noted that with the length restrictions, graphic novels have to be succinct. This tried to tell a lot of stories and didn't really tell most of them, besides one sister having threesomes on burning mountainsides and the other acting really awful towards her friend because of her confused feelings. I liked the setting, early 2000s Italian countryside, and it meandered like a summer free from school, one of my favorite things to read about. Wish it had done a bit better.

[Rebekah Zhao · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summer Fires is slow and could feel disconnected, and I've seen reviews that say it's missing heft or weight to the plot. However, there's a lot that goes unsaid and is left to the art to invoke. For me, the gorgeous use of color carries so much of the meaning here. As the color flares to stark orange in midsummer, there's a little rage here, the wildfires reflecting the frustration of teenage girls beating against their cages. Then there's the dreamy, honey-like quality of the slow, meandering days of late summer cast in golden hues. I wish I could include certain panels in my review that show it best--the light rays shining into Rachel's bedroom at the beginning of August, the scene of the two sisters watching tv while lying in front of the fan, and the panel of the sisters sitting on a bench under the shade of tree leaves are all particular favorites.
Although Summer Fires didn't really reflect my youth, it is a lovely, well-told story.

[SensationDaria · Rating 1 out of 5]

Non so bene come descrivere questa esperienza di lettura perché, mi dispiace molto ammetterlo, non mi ha lasciato niente.
Dirò di più: dice molte più cose la trama della storia in sé (che altrimenti non avrei capito).
Scorrendo le pagine ho continuato a chiedermi quale fosse il punto, il significato sotteso, la morale, il carattere dei personaggi, il fine della storia.
Le scene disegnate hanno spesso creato disordine, in quanto in esse il tempo scorre molto velocemente, con il risultato di sembrare quasi dei flash a se stanti.
Se mi ha trasmesso qualcosa questo romanzo grafico è pura monotonia e confusione.
Insomma, non è riuscito a intrattenermi né tanto meno a farsi apprezzare.
Peccato!

[Vittorio Rainone · Rating 4 out of 5]

C'è qualcosa di non perfettamente a fuoco nel nuovo corso grafico della Sagramola, specie quando decide di allargare l'inquadratura. Ma anche negli interni e nei primi piani è come se avesse rinunciato alla semplicità potente degli esordi, per tentare una verbosità descrittiva non sua. Carina la bicromia che cambia al cambiare dei mesi e quindi dei capitoli. La narrazione, poi, adotta dialoghi fatti di frasi mozze, che hanno il difetto di rendere troppo sincopato il ritmo, restituendo un'atmosfera giovanile, ma al contempo artefatta. La storia comunque si sviluppa bene e convince sempre più al passare delle pagine. Insomma, a dispetto di qualche difetto, questo volume è da leggere.

[Noortje · Rating 3 out of 5]

i mean it wasn't that bad. I loved the art (especially the backgrounds) and vibes. it's definitely a slice of life type novel and I feel what the writer was trying to do. it was just left a bit too vague for my liking. I'd have liked it if it explored rachel's problem with going public with stef/ being intimate with others a bit more. I'm guessing she was embarrassed but the story made it seem like there was something deeper going on they never touched upon. her character development felt a bit like oh okay she's nicer now i guess?? there were other plotpoints too that never really get expanded upon or get resolved in any meaningful way. anyway.

[Averil *rat emoji* · Rating 3 out of 5]

It definitely succeeds in creating the feeling of endless summer days and languid nights. I loved the art two tone art style, and the portrayal of sisterhood. But it underexplains everything. I was a little lost, maybe that’s intentional? But why did the Sylvia pregnant storyline go nowhere, why were the friends horrible to her sister? Why didn’t she go back for the cat? Who was lighting the fires? Why did Steve friends suddenly accept her in the end? And in I didn’t even get the Andre sitch, was she with him or not?