"Smile" & "Sisters" by Raina Telgemeier

9 and Up

Raina just wants to be a normal sixth grader, but one night after Girl Scouts she trips and falls, severely injuring her two front teeth. What follows is a long and frustrating journey with on-again, off-again braces, surgery, embarrassing headgear, and even a retainer with fake teeth attached. And on top of all that, there’s still more to deal with: a major earthquake, boy confusion, and friends who turn out to be not so friendly.

Just like ‘El Deafo’ and ‘The Dumbest Idea Ever’, this is a graphic memoir based on Raina Telgemeier’s childhood. Books and TV shows that are based on the creators real life are always the best. For example: ‘Gravity Falls’ was based off of Alex Hirsh’s childhood and ‘The Goldbergs’ was based off of Adam F. Goldberg’s childhood.

I never liked going to the dentist, even when I didn’t have braces. I hate the sound the dentist tools make when they scrap against your teeth, it just grates on your brain. I can understand why some people think dentists are evil. What sane person chooses a career where you stick pointy metal objects into peoples’ mouths?

This might or might not be a good book to give to a person who is just about to get braces. On one hand, it might scare them but on the other hand, they’ll know that even if they are getting braces at least they won’t have to go through what this girl had to go through. At least I hope so. Either way, this is a great graphic novel.

Raina can’t wait to be a big sister. But once Amara is born, things aren’t quite how she expected them to be. Amara is cute, but she’s also a cranky, grouchy baby, and mostly prefers to play by herself. Their relationship doesn’t improve much over the years. But when a baby brother enters the picture, and later, when something doesn’t seem right between their parents, they realize they must figure out how to get along. They are sisters, after all.

I was really surprised when I found this book. I did not think Raina Telgemeler would draw another book about her life. Apparently there was more excitement going on in her life that didn’t include her teeth.

I don’t really have much experience living with a sister since my sister was 16 when I was born and now has two kids of her own. My niece and nephew are closer to my age and feel more like my siblings than my actual sister. From what I’ve read in this book and other books about siblings, I might have dodged a bullet. Except I do like my sister.

This weeks’ Weird but True Fact about Dentistry

Dentists are experimenting with a device that uses electric pulses to straighten teeth up to 50% faster than braces do.

Brave by Svetlana Chmakova

Anyone remember the graphic novel ‘Awkward’ by Svetlana Chmakova? 
Well, here’s it sequel.

Middle School and High School

In his daydreams, Jensen is the biggest hero that ever was, saving the world and his friends on a daily basis. But his middle school reality is VERY different – math is hard, getting along with friends is hard...Even finding a partner for the class project is a big problem when you always get picked last. And the pressure’s on even more once the school newspaper’s dynamic duo, Jenny and Akilah, draw Jensen into the whirlwind of school news, social experiment projects, and behind-the-scenes club drama. Jensen’s always played the middle school game one level at a time, but suddenly, someone’s cranked up the difficulty setting. Will those daring daydreams of his finally work in his favor, or will he have to find real solutions to his real-life problems?

The main subject in the story is bullying and isolation. This graphic novel should be a mandatory read for middle school kids. 

The bullies from the first book are back and worse than ever. They actually go out of their way to target poor Jensen. Who actually takes the time to track someone down just to give him or her a hard time? And poor Jensen doesn’t even realize that his own friends are being mean to him until he gets a pamphlet about bullying. 

I was bullied in school. I won’t go into detail about it but it could have been a lot worse. Like on a scale of 1 to 10, I was about a 3. Unlike Jensen at first, I stood up for myself. I wish this book had been around when I was in middle school. Maybe I would have found better ways to deal with bullies.

This weeks’ Weird but True Fact about Sunspots

Some sunspots – magnetic fields on the sun – are bigger than Earth.

Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson

4^th Grade and Up

Twelve-year-old Astrid has always done everything with her best friend Nicole. So, when Astrid signs up for Roller Derby Camp, she assumes Nicole will too. But Nicole signs up for dance camp with a new friend instead, and so begins the toughest summer of Astrid’s life.

There are bumps and bruises as Astrid learns who she is without Nicole and what it takes to be a strong, tough roller girl.

This is an excellent girl-empowerment book that every girl should read. Roller Derby girls are definitely tough and maybe a bit crazy to go out and slam into each other on skates for the sake of fun. 

The best thing about Roller Derby (in my opinion) are the creative derby names. Here are a few of my favorite names featured in this story:

Rainbow Bite

Slay Miserables

Napoleon Blownapart

Scream Soda

The Blast Unicorn

Little Bonebreaker

And the best one: the author, a bona fide roller girl herself, reveals her secret identity –

Winnie the Pow!

Another point this story makes is that some friendships don’t last. You make a friend when you’re young, when you get older your interests change and sometimes you just go your separate ways. It’s sad but that’s just the way things are sometimes.

Anyone remember when I posted ‘The Secret Tree’by Natalie Standtford? In that story, Minty loved roller derby and was practicing her skating in the beginning of the story. Minty was so cute trying to come up with a tough Roller Derby name to go with her name but could only come up with ‘Minty Fresh’, which to me sounds cool. If you like Minty, you’ll love Astrid.

And if you like this graphic novel, check out the movie ‘Monster High: Friday Night Frights’. 

This weeks’ Weird but True Fact about Roller Skates

The man credited with inventing roller skates crashed into a mirror while showing off his new invention.

Cardboard by Doug TenNapel

3^rd Grade and Up

The adventure begins when cardboard comes to life!

Cam’s down-and-out father gives him a cardboard box for his birthday and he knows it’s the worst present ever. To make the best of a bad situation, they bend the cardboard into a man – and to their astonishment, it comes magically to life. But the neighborhood jerk, Marcus, warps the powerful cardboard into his own evil creations that threaten to destroy them all!

Another great story and artwork made by the hands of Doug TenNapel. 

I’d love to know how Doug TenNapel came up with this idea. Cardboard coming to life! How random is that? This book proves that with a little bit of imagination and a lot of cardboard, you can build just about anything. If you don’t believe me, check out these creations:

Here’s one I would’ve liked to build when I was a kid. Who am I kidding? I would like to build that now.

So, here’s a tip, if you know anyone under the age of 10 who’s having a birthday, I suggest buying them a bunch of large cardboard boxes and colored markers and tell them to go nuts. I know I would’ve loved that as a kid.

This weeks’ Weird but True Fact about Cardboard

A man made a bike almost entirely out of cardboard.