Sisters

Sisters Raina Telgemeier

Raina, her sister Amara, her brother Will, and her mother are road-tripping to Colorado (her dad has to work and will fly out and meet them there.) Of course, Raina’s siblings drive her crazy and if she didn’t have her Walkman to drown them out, she’d go insane. The story alternates between the car trip and what happened before (Raina wishing for a sister, she and her sister fighting, the arrival of her brother, life in general in their cramped 2-bedroom apartment.)

As always, I love Telgemeier’s art and storytelling. I think the frame of the road trip works well. It’s also interesting because this focuses exclusively on her family, and as such, gives a different, more complex picture than the glimpses we saw in Smile. The other thing I liked was, when Raina and Amara reached their inevitable detente, they didn’t immediately become BFF. They gained a bit of understanding, but you know their relationship still wasn’t perfect.

Hilariously, I read this one a bit out-of-order. When I got it, I flipped to the middle just to kinda flip through it and I started reading. And then I got to the end, having only read the second half of the book. Then I had to go and read it again, but this time starting at the beginning.

It’s not my favorite of Telgemeier’s (she’s going to have a hard time topping Smile in my heart) but it’s still a great read.


Book Provided by... my local library

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Drama

Drama Raina Telgemeier

Callie loves theater. She can't act or sing, but she's awesome at the tech stuff. So she's very excited to be the set designer for the school's production of Moon of Mississippi. She's finally kissed the guy she likes, but now he's not talking to her. She has two new guy friends (one an actor, one she talks into tech) who may be possibilities, but maybe not. Her best friend is doing costumes and the show could be awesome but...

Callie doesn't have the budget for the set she's designed, her cannon isn't working, and no one's buy tickets. What's a girl to do?

I think Telgemeier could make a comic book out of the phone book and I'd love it. I love how she captures drama department politics without going too prima donna diva-overboard. I love Callie's determination to make that cannon work. I also love the relationship with her friend Liz and her little brother.

While this isn't straight up biographical like Smile, the little details about junior high life that made that one so perfect are here in Drama.

Love.


Book Provided by... my local library

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Nonfiction Monday: Smile

Smile Raina Telgemeier

One night after girl scouts, Raina trips. She knocks one of her front teeth out and jams the other one entirely into her gum and jaw bone. What follows is years of corrective dentistry. Which is just what you need in junior high when you have to deal with puberty, younger siblings, mean friends, and boys.

This is such a wonderful story of growing up and the pain of crappy friends and first crushes and the 1989 San Fransisco earthquake... and a really gross (but wonderfully told) story of dental drama/trauma.

I had to pick this up because I'm a huge fan of Telgemeier's work in The Babysitter's Club graphic novels. (I mean, she was *perfect* in making Claudia and Stacey super-stylish, but Claudia artsily so and Stacey NYC-so without coping their crazy-ass outfits from the book. She perfectly captured the spirit of their styles.) Anyway, I ached at her changing friendships and how her friends became more and more mean. I love that she says she wanted to become an animator after seeing A Little Mermaid, but what she's thinking is that she really wants to be is a mermaid.

Also, I love the fact it's in full color.

All in all, love love love love love love love.

Although it hurts to see that references to Joey McIntyre now need explanatory footnotes.

Round up is over at Shelf-Employed.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.