The best example is a personal example, and it’s admirable that Telgemeier has an honesty and a lack of fear about exposing what others might consider embarrassing aspects of their childhood. The more the young Raina feels frightened about vomiting, the more frequently she experiences stomach pains. “But vomiting is just a normal thing people do sometimes”, explains her mother to no avail. After Smile considering dental treatment and the self-explanatory Sisters comes this exploration of fear.Īfter a family bout of sickness the young Raina becomes increasingly concerned about vomiting, a worry that spreads until she begins to consider many aspects of life in terms of whether exposing herself to them could induce the slightest chance of vomiting. So, pairing readers with a text is a complex process, and knowledge of a novel’s themes and plot is necessary to make a high-quality recommendation.The emoji-style cover to Guts is one of a series differentiating Raina Telgemeier’s autobiographical material from her general young adult stories. However, Lexile does not take into account the content of a novel.

A Lexile score is a measure of both a child’s reading ability and a text difficulty. Lexile is a score that helps educators and parents match students with an appropriate text. This novel is perfect for students age 9+. This one should definitely be on your shelf, particularly because anxiety seems to be on the rise among adolescents 😔. It’s difficult for people who’ve never experienced it to fully understand, and I applaud this graphic novel’s effort to share the realities of the feelings and effects of it. It doesn’t go away, but she begins to realize that anxiety occurs based on an interpretation of something rather than a reality, and this helps her to manage her feelings more effectively.Īs an anxiety sufferer myself, I know all too well how irrational anxiety can be. At first, she has no idea what’s happening to her, but over time, and as her parents work with her to shift her mindset and bring her to a therapist, Raina learns how to cope with her anxiety. In this story, protagonist Raina, begins to experience anxiety that manifests physically and mentally (as anxiety usually does). But Guts, by the incredible author of Smile and Sisters (also graphic novels I recommend!) does a beautiful job exploring it, even drawing on personal experiences to tell the story. The unfortunate thing is, it’s not talked about much in YA or middle grade books. I’m willing to bet that most you nodded your head yes to that question. Anyone have students with anxiety? 🙋🏻‍♀️

Guts a graphic novel