Smile by Raina Telgemeier

 Smile 

Bibliography 

Telgemeier, Raina.  2010.  Smile.  New York, NY: Graphix.  ISBN 9780545132060. 

Plot Summary 

When Raina is 11, she falls while running and knocks out one tooth and pushes the other up into her jaw.  When the embarrassing cast she wore for a few months didn’t work, she had to have her teeth pulled out and get braces and headgear to close the gap in her front teeth.  She faces constant embarrassment and teasing from her “friends” over her teeth.  She meets the challenges of puberty, unrequited crushes on boys, trying to find her “style,” and her ongoing struggle with her braces. Once she enters high school, she stands up for herself and ditches her friends who constantly tease, mock, and humiliate her. She finds new friends, figures out what her interests are, and she finally gets her braces off and feels confident smiling. 

Critical Analysis 

This autobiographical graphic novel has a multitude of messages for the middle school reader: be yourself, don’t deal with put downs just to have friends, and don't sacrifice your happiness because others tease you about it. Although it occurred in the late 80’s to early 90’s, tweens and teens are still facing the same identity crisis that Raina faces in the book and can relate to what she is experiencing. Smile also ties in current events of the time, such as the 1989 San Francisco earthquake and the popular music of the early 1990’s, making it enjoyable for adults and parents to read as well for the nostalgia. 

Raina truly makes a transformation throughout the book. The time she spends in a dental cast and braces is almost like her period of metamorphosis; when she gets her braces off and her gap is gone, she has grown into a confident young woman who seeks out her own path. The healing of her teeth symbolizes her emergence from childhood, and her graphics in the novel do a great job at illustrating Raina’s transformation throughout middle school. 

Review Excerpts 

2011 Eisner Award Winner  

2010 Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards Honor 

School Library Journal 3/1/2010: “Telgemeier's full-color artwork is confident and light, and her storytelling is appropriately paced. This straightforward and entertaining autobiographical comic is sure to please.”—Douglas P. Davey 

Publishers Weekly 12/7/2009  “This book should appeal to tweens looking for a story that reflects their fears and experiences and gives them hope that things get easier.” 

Connections 

I identified with this book a great deal since I was just a few years older than Raina in the book. I experienced many of the same struggles as her during the same times, and even though I didn’t live in San Francisco, I clearly remember watching the World Series when the 1989 earthquake happened. Readers may also enjoy Raina Telgemeier’s sequel to this book, Sisters, ISBN 9780545540605 or Beautiful: A Girls’ Trip Through the Looking Glass by Marie D’Abreo ISBN 9780991528547.