Module 10: Smile

Summary

This graphic novel is the autobiography of the author, Raina Telgemeier. It starts when she is in sixth grade and is 11 years old and follows her journey for five years. She trips and knocks out her front two teeth while running home from Girl Scouts one night. Her following years are filled with dentist appointments, surgery, on-again, off-again braces, head gear, a retainer with fake teeth, boy confusion, and finding out who her true friends are. It won the 2010 Boston Globe – Horn Book Honor for Nonfiction and the Eisner Award for Best Publication for Teens.

Reference

Telgemeier, R. (2010). Smile. New York, NY: Scholastic/Graphix.

My Impressions

Smile tells a compelling story from a girl’s viewpoint about common feelings and insecurities that will encourage reading. The situations the main character and author, Raina Telgemeier, finds herself dealing with regarding friends, family, and boys at school are typical of what young people feel and experience as they navigate the confusing world of middle school. This is an easy-to-read, accessible graphic novel. It is a great introduction to the visual format graphic novels offer. The art of the brightly colored, expressive panels blends well with the text. Variations in the panel sizes keep the reader interested and engaged.

Professional Review

Telgemeier has created an utterly charming graphic memoir of tooth trauma, first crushes and fickle friends, sweetly reminiscent of Judy Blume’s work. One night, Raina trips and falls after a Girl Scout meeting, knocking out her two front teeth. This leads to years of painful surgeries, braces, agonizing root canals and other oral atrocities. Her friends offer little solace through this trying ordeal, spending more of their time teasing than comforting her. After years of these girls’ constant belittling, Raina branches out and finds her own voice and a new group of friends. Young girls will relate to her story, and her friend-angst is palpable. Readers should not overlook this seemingly simply drawn work; the strong writing and emotionally expressive characters add an unexpected layer of depth. As an afterword, the author includes a photo of her smiling, showing off the results of all of the years of pain she endured. Irresistible, funny and touching—a must read for all teenage girls, whether en-braced or not. (Graphic memoir. 12 & up)

Smile [Review of the book Smile]. (2010, December 22). Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/raina-telgemeier/smile/

Library Uses

This could be used in a library as a good introduction to graphic novels. It also could be used to introduce Raina Telgemeier’s series to students. Students could compare and contrast Smile with the second companion book in the series, Sisters.

Module 9: Mirror Mirror

Summary

This poetry book takes 12 fairy tales and adds a unique slant by presenting poems that are printed and illustrated forward and backward—called “reversos” poems. There is also an introductory poem at the beginning and one at the end. The illustrations similarly reflect the double meaning of each poem. The author explain her technique at the end on the last two pages and tells the reader how she came up with this style.

Reference

Singer, M. (2010). Mirror Mirror. New York, NY: Penguin Group.

My Impressions

This clever book re-tells 12 fairy tale stories in poetry that is read from the top going down the page and then with the same lines read word-for-word backward. It is printed this way so it is easy for the reader to read. Readers will enjoy the wordplay in this newer form of poetry. This unique format tells a tale with two poems that tell the same story from a different perspective, depending on the voice used in the poem and some of the poems tell an opposing tale that is different from the traditional fairy tale. This adds to the book’s interest and causes small, unexpected moments of surprise for the reader. The beautifully rich, vibrantly colored illustrations by Josee Masse complement the poems perfectly and add a new dimension of understanding because she painted them as two mirror-like images.

Professional Review

A collection of masterful fairy-tale–inspired reversos—a poetic form invented by the author, in which each poem is presesnted forward and backward. Although the words are identical in each presentation, changes in punctuation, line breaks and capitalization create two pieces that tell completely different stories. “In the Hood,” for instance, first presents Red Riding Hood’s perspective: “In my hood, / skipping through the wood, / carrying a basket, picking berries to eat— / juicy and sweet / what a treat! / But a girl / mustn’t dawdle. / After all, Grandma’s waiting.” Reversed, we hear from the wolf: “After all, Grandma’s waiting / mustn’t dawdle... / But a girl! / What a treat— / juicy and sweet / picking berries to eat, / carrying a basket, / skipping through the wood / in my ’hood.” Masse’s gorgeous, stylized illustrations enhance the themes of duality and perspective by presenting images and landscapes that morph in delightful ways from one side of the page to the other. A mesmerizing and seamless celebration of language, imagery and perspective. (Poetry. 8-12)

Mirror mirror [Review of the book Mirror mirror]. (2010, December 22). Kirkus Review. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/marilyn-singer/mirror-mirror/

Library Uses

Have the students write their own reversos poem—where the words can be read backward or frontward—which gives the poem a different meaning. The punctuation can be changed but not the words in the lines. It is harder than it looks!