Telgemeier, Raina. 2010. Smile. New York: Scholastic. ISBN 9780545132060
Smile is a graphic novel Raina Telgemeier wrote about her personal experience as a pre-teen when she knocked out her two front teeth. With colorful, expressive illustrations, Raina takes the reader through each dental and orthodontic experience she has to endure. The dentist initially thinks he has fixed her teeth, but they fused with her upper jaw leaving them higher up than all her other teeth. They then try braces and headgear to fix this issue to no avail. Finally she ends up having the teeth removed, fakes ones made, and a whole new set of braces. Add this to the emotional roller coaster of being twelve and thirteen and starting high school and Raina had quite the eventful adolescence. Through it all she also learns a very important lesson about friendship and what true friends actually look like.
Smile was a quick and enjoyable read. I know this book is enjoyed by students in upper elementary and above due to the popularity of this title in my classroom. The author is an amazingly talented illustrator and storyteller and had me engaged in her story from the very first page. She makes her story relatable to pre-teens today, but also to those who grew up around the same time she did. She added pop culture references in conversations and illustrations that I recognized and remember as part of my adolescence as well. I look forward to exploring other titles by Raina Telgemeier such as Sisters, Drama, and Ghosts.
Raina Telgemeier is on the list of required authors.
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