While the theme of Sweety (being yourself no matter how “odd” or “weird” you might seem to others) has been done before, this has a slightly different feeling to it. Andrea Zuill has made it slightly more modern in some ways, but also has kept a classic feeling as well. The classic aspect of the story is Sweety has a large, traditional family and how she and her family interact. The fact that Sweety asks if “being herself” while looking for friends could be seen as desperate is an interesting turn of phrase. As well as the fact that Sweety is willing to change herself a little by trying new things, but still putting a Sweety spin on them is done without being overly pushy with the “be yourself” theme.
When Aunt Ruth enters the picture (literally as they are looking at old photographs of Ruth and Sweety’s mother), adults might get a little kick out the “historical” aspect of some of the clothing (or at least the one image that is my favorite: Paging punk era!)
I am not a fan of Zuill’s artwork, but they are the only type of illustrations that could have been used. After all, Sweety is a naked mole rat (meaning they are hairless, not that they dislike clothing. Which is a relief to the illustrator who did not want to draw embarrassing images). This joke and others are found via text and illustrations (Sweety is envious sometimes of the “cool girls” hair style that you get to see).
And even though Sweety is not a “OMG this is my favorite,” it has become a hit with my bookstore coworkers. Therefore, this tells me Sweety is a book that needs to be introduced to everyone who will experience Sweety in their own unique way.