A Look at the Work of Raina Telgemeier
By: Shannon Denham, Staff Writer
I first stumbled across Raina Telgemeier’s graphic novel, Smile, when I was just 13 years old. Since then, I’ve continued to avidly reread her books and look forward to every new work she puts out. Even though I’m about 5 years older than her designated age group, I thoroughly love all of her graphic novels. Perhaps the most successful of her novels, Smile, is a graphic novel memoir following Raina Telgemeier’s childhood and her crazy adventure with orthodontics.
The Eisner Award-winning Smile is my favorite of Raina’s works, since I feel it is a work unlike any other. Compared to other books, Raina accurately portrays friendship, middle school, and high school along with all the emotions they come with. In fact, when I first read Smile when I was 13, I could really relate to what Raina went through and felt a lot more confident about two things—I was not alone in my problems and things would get better.
In the graphic novel Smile, recommended for ages 9 to 13, Raina ends up tripping and knocking her two front teeth out. However, the dentist is unable to properly fix her two front teeth. This begins her extensive journey into orthodontics. Raina faces headgear, retainers with fake teeth, and some crazy dental operations. However, that’s not all Raina has to face. She also has to go through middle school and high school, dealing with problems like crushes and mean friends. With Smile, Raina perfectly captures the essence of growing up and shows that friends that support you and make you feel comfortable with yourself are far superior to those that break you down. All in all, Smile leaves you feeling warm and happy with yourself. It truly makes you appreciate life, even the most mundane aspects of it.
After she published Smile, Raina Telgemeier continued working on more projects, the next of which became the middle grade graphic novel, Drama (recommended for ages 10 to 14). Drama follows seventh-grader Callie as she works as the head set designer on her middle school’s musical. Callie meets the twins, Justin and Jesse, who both help out with the play. Justin is confident and outgoing while Jesse is much more reserved and unsure about himself. Jesse feels pressure by his dad to work extra hard in school, while in reality he just might be more interested in musicals. Things move forward with the play, but then drama gets in the way. Callie faces problems with creating a set on the school’s tight budget and also with Jesse and her other friends, Matt and his brother Greg. Drama also gets in the way of the actors, with the lead actress quitting her role right before the Act 2 even begins. Who will save the day? Well, that’s something you will have to read and find out!
Outside of providing a great story, Raina Telgemeier covers the fantastic subjects of working hard, getting over your feelings, and accepting yourself for who you are. Drama strays from average story themes and weaves a tale that brings refreshing views into the 21st century.
Raina Telgemeier proved herself once again to be a true master of storytelling with her latest graphic novel, Sisters. Sisters, recommended for ages 8 to 12, is a companion to Smile and is a memoir portraying Raina and her little sister’s relationship. Anyone that read and liked Smile would thoroughly enjoy this book because readers get to learn more of Raina’s at home life outside of braces.
Right off the bat, Raina had wanted a little sister in her life and continuously pestered her parents to have one. However, once Raina’s little sister, Amara, was born, things were nothing like Raina expected them to be. Amara didn’t want to play with Raina and would constantly yell and scream at her. What started off as a rocky start continued to go downhill as the girls got older. They were always fighting and hardly had anything in common apart from their love of drawing.
The girls along with their mom and brother go on a weeklong road trip to a family reunion, where their dad would fly over and meet them. However, Raina and Amara question whether their dad was flying to the reunion separately only because of work, or if their parents were having problems. As their family begins to fall apart, Raina and Amara have to try to work together and settle their differences. Sisters is a great example of how even when we don’t get along we can stick together and help each other out in tough times. It is a great read that I highly recommend to anyone. As a sister myself, I can certainly understand fighting with my sibling and how working together to get through your problems is challenging but rewarding.
What most separates Raina Telgemeier’s books from the rest of middle-grade novels is her choice of topics and elements. Raina’s characters face problems that are seldom seen in literature, yet happen every day. Raina doesn’t shy away from some of the less-than-ideal aspects of life, such as ending up friendless, crushing on the absolute wrong guy, and going through family troubles. In all of her graphic novels, Raina shares the warm feelings of what true friendship really is. You can pick up any of Raina Telgemeier’s graphic novels at your local bookstores, including her other works such as her graphic novel interpretations of The Baby-sitters Club. If you want a signed copy of her books, you can purchase one from Raina Telgemeier’s local bookstore, The Astoria Bookshop. This bookshop will ship the signed books right to your doorstep.
Disclaimer
All images in this article are copyright Raina Telgemeier and Scholastic Corporation.