* 'A must.' - School Library Journal, starred review * 'The story both normalizes therapy and shows a child developing useful coping mechanisms for anxiety in a way that will reassure, even inspire, readers.' - Publishers Weekly, starred review School Library Journal Best Graphic Novel of the YearĪ 2020 CBC Children’s & Teen Choice Book Award Winner School Library Journal Best Book of the Year Washington Post Best Graphic Novel of the Yearįorbes Best Graphic Novel of 2019, Honorable MentionĬhicago Public Library's Best of the Best Of perhaps lesser comfort is the author’s note after the story saying the problems have continued, although she now has more in the way of coping mechanisms.Īny Telgemeier book is a treat for young adult readers, and Guts has the additional benefit of being a repository of good advice and common sense.New York Times Best Children's Book of 2019 Life goes on for others around the young Raina’s worries, and there are changes for her beyond the anxiety.

What gives Guts its feeling of reality is illness not being the sole focus.

Colour is also used to reflect feeling, with shades of green representing concerns. It’s appropriate for the story in which she notes her first steps into drawing comics. It’s valuable because Guts is going to reach a whole lot of kids with anxieties where therapy won’t ever be a consideration.Īs the sample art shows, while Telgemeier’s cartooning remains accessibly and appealingly simple, there’s also occasionally space for something more sophisticated. Among her massive audience of young adult readers will be some experiencing fears they can’t quite explain, whether connected to vomiting or otherwise, and Telgemeier sympathetically lays out that fears are perfectly natural. 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. The emoji-style cover to Guts is one of a series differentiating Raina Telgemeier’s autobiographical material from her general young adult stories.

Guts a graphic novel