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Smile

Smile

Author: Raina Telgemeier
Illustrator: Stephanie Yue
Genre: Non-Fiction
Graphic Novel
Grade: 5th grade and up


Raina is 11 years old and the story starts off when she is in 6th grade. While playing with her friends, she tripped and knocked out her two front teeth. The story then picks up on her journey throughout school and dealing with fixing her teeth. Due to her missing teeth, she has to deal socially with her classmates and it is even harder for her to make friends. She then has to wear braces and go to appointments and treatments throughout the school year. She deals with a lot of problems such as insecurities, boys, bullying, zits, family stuff, and many more. The story then continues on her entering high school and meeting some new friends. At the end of the book, she finally had her surgery and she is now able to smile again.


This book is a graphic novel and it is fun to read. The students will enjoy reading this especially 5th grade students and up. It deals with transitioning from being a child to hitting puberty. I think the female students will relate to Raina because she deals with puberty and boy problems. The graphics are really nice and the faces and expressions of the characters are really funny. The students will really like this book because it is very relatable and it is a graphic novel of course.

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