Review By: Anonymous from Chittenango Middle School
Title: Guts
Author: Raina Telgemeier
Published: 2019, Graphix
Genre: Graphic Novel, Non-Fiction
Audience: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Triggers: Vomit, Anxiety
Goodreads Review: A true story from Raina Telgemeier, the #1 New York Times bestselling, multiple Eisner Award-winning author of Smile, Sisters, Drama, and Ghosts! Raina wakes up one night with a terrible upset stomach. Her mom has one, too, so it’s probably just a bug. Raina eventually returns to school, where she’s dealing with the usual highs and lows: friends, not-friends, and classmates who think the school year is just one long gross-out session. It soon becomes clear that Raina’s tummy trouble isn’t going away… and it coincides with her worries about food, school, and changing friendships. What’s going on? Raina Telgemeier once again brings us a thoughtful, charming, and funny true story about growing up and gathering the courage to face — and conquer — her fears.
Review: The book Guts by Raina Telgemeier is an autobiographical story. Raina wakes up one night with a terrible stomach ache and ends up ill just like her brother and mother. Once her bug is gone, Raina returns to school and faces the typical day-today stressors, but Raina realizes her stomach pains are not going away and they always seem to show up when she is worried about food and her friendships.
This book hits on a lot of “hot topics” kids deal with, and I think that the book addresses it is a mature, yet light enough way to make the book fun to read. I would highly recommend this book to both kids, teens, and adults. I honestly wish I had read this book a few years ago when I had a students dealing with very similar stressors as Raina. It might have been nice to recommend she read the book, and even possibly read it with her. As a class, this book could spark discussions about different causes of anxiety of stress and ways we can handle those.
