Tiny Little Brother

I'm so conflicted by this book. I found it in the YA section, but it's far closer to a children's book because it's so simplistic in both art style and writing. Most second graders would be able to understand the book with minimal help from an adult (or older sibling). Teens... I honestly can't imagine they'd be able to read this without feeling embarrassment because of how simply it's written.

In fact, I found it so odd that this is from the perspective of someone who was sixteen when her little brother was born yet the rhyme scheme is very juvenile and weak. At times, the rhyming drops entirely or would require a heavy accent to work. Other times, it's the kind of thing a child would write. The art also looks like something a child may draw: simple, no defined hands or features, colouring outside the lines. Also, there's a random goat which appears in a few drawings, but it has purpose at the end.

That said, this book tells a meaningful story about an older sister bonding with her little brother who's sixteen years younger. She begins to suffer depression (which is portrayed in one heartbreaking drawing as the goat having broken horns) and tries to explain it to her brother as she fights to maintain her facade of normalcy. But... I think she maybe kills herself? It's confusing. Things go from adorable to extremely dark very abruptly and the book ends on a very confusing note.

The sister says that she's tired of being a scapegoat and wants to find a home of her own off somewhere that she can be anything she wants. Except the things listed are all animals, which bring to mind certain beliefs about reincarnation. At the very end, her goat is shown with wings, and I can't tell if it means she's flying in an empowering sense or that she's an angel because she killed herself.I also can't tell what she means when she says the little brother learned from "them" to avoid and blame her. It's sudden and rushed and not as well explained as anything else. Maybe it's a sibling thing? Uncertain, since I have no siblings myself. It almost sounds more like he became a bad person...?

So, yeah, it's an interesting book and it attempts to tell an important story, but I think it suffers from the poetry scheme and I'm not sure what audience it's trying to reach or whether the ending is appropriate. (Is this a book to share with the younger sibling of someone who committed suicide? Or just the younger sibling of someone who ran away / moved away?)

Digital ARC provided by NetGalley. Review left voluntarily and contains honest opinions.

This book was short but impactful. This book is clearly designed for young adults and children and is a tool to start a discussion on some wider and deeper topics. I prefer reads that are more text based and go into more detail and plot but I can appreciate what the purpose of this book is.The illustrations were brilliant and the narrative heartfelt.