Smile

Photo credit GoRaina.com

Smile by Raina Telgemeier is a graphic memoir that is sure to make you smile, laugh, and fall in love with Raina (both the character and the author)! Telgemeier does a wonderful job of taking a personal experience, making it super relatable to most of us who have had braces or some other dental experiences, and making it laugh out loud funny. When we can laugh about similar experiences, it makes what you’re going through a little bit easier, but this graphic novel can connect to even those who have not experienced anything like this, because it is that funny and relatable.

Telgemeier creates so much depth and detail within her illustrations that it puts the reader right alongside her on her journey to smile. The detailed illustrations demonstrate extensive knowledge into the dental procedures and includes diagrams with labels that explain to the reader the process or parts of her experience. This makes the story move along nicely without unnecessarily wordy explanations since this is a graphic novel. The details in the illustrations provide a wonderful visual experience for the reader.

The composition of words and illustrations the Telgemeier creates a complete story both visually appealing and uses enough dialogue and descriptions to have a well rounded, detailed plot line. The way each panel entails the visually detailed experience, with a small panel description in a text box and dialogue bubble when needed makes for an engaging read that is sure to bring a smile to anyone who reads it! The composition creates the perfect balance and pulls the reader into the story visually, then adds the content to enhance the visual experience.

While Smile is a graphic memoir about Telgemeier's experience, there were some unexpected insights thrown in that the reader can also connect to. While the majority of the story is about her dental experience, real life teenage problems are embedded throughout the story. Her braces were adding to her teenage problems, which she thought were the cause of all her problems. However at the end she realized once she got her braces off, “My life didn’t magically turn around after that… I realized that I had been letting the way I looked on the outside effect how I felt on the inside. But the more I focused on my interests, the more it brought out things I like about myself. And that affected the way other people saw me!” This is such a big part of growing up. We all have things we think other people see that causes them to not like us as much, but it’s really about what’s on the inside that counts.

Smile connects to me personally, in the friendship aspect. Raina’s friends made fun of her and she found it humiliating, yet she stayed friends with them and didn’t say anything. In my middle school years, I too had friends who made fun of me, and I assumed it was all in good fun, which a lot of kids do, but once I finally said enough, just like Raina, I found my true friends based. We connected on a much deeper level, because I, like Raina, threw myself into things I enjoyed. A lot of teens can relate to this, and I think it’s good for teens to see themselves and their friendships in a book. Overall, I think this book was hilarious and highly entertaining! I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars!

Smile is a book I think anyone and everyone can enjoy and relate to, whether you’ve had any issues with your smile or not! There is so much that smile has to offer in this graphic memoir that make it so relatable. With Telgemeier's eye catching, detailed illustrations, a visual composition of balanced text and visuals and unexpected insights that teen can see themselves or their friends through, this book is sure to be hit! I highly recommend this book, even if you just need a smile!

Telgemeier, Raina. (2010). Smile. New York: Graphix.