Guts by Raina Telgemeier (Book Review)

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. (taken from goodreads.com) 

I love Raina’s graphic novels, Guts is  the third book in her Sisters series, a series of auto-biographical graphic novels about different impactful moments in Raina’s life as a child. I have read all of her other graphic novels, her fiction and non-fiction ones, and they just keep getting better and better. The graphic novels don’t need to be read in order, I recommend reading them in publication order but thats not a hard and fast rule. 

Each novel explains a different tough topic to a younger audience topics such as divorce, friendship, bullying, sibling rivalries and many more. Each one is told in a clear way with amazing illustrations.

Guts is a middle-grade graphic novel, talking about Raina when she was in elementary school and her experience with anxiety. As someone who used to suffer from an anxious stomach, I never truly understood how one had to do with the other. When I was a summer camp counselor, one of the first things they tell you during orientation before the campers come is that sometimes if a camper complains of a stomach ache for a while its actually a manifestation of their homesickness. After reading this, part of me wants to purchase a copy to have in every cabin in camp so that campers can read it and get a better idea of what’s going on. 

This story was able to really explain anxiety and how it manifests in different ways in a sensitive manner. I really enjoyed the way this book explained what happens in clear terms to a younger audience. 

I highly recommend this book and all of Raina’s other books!

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