Kathryn's Inbox

Until it was announced, I never believed that Raina Telgemeier would pen another autobiography. After all, what was left to tell, after she had penned about her adolescent adventures following on from the loss of her two front teeth in Smile , or about the awkward relationship that she had with her younger sister in Sisters ? It turns out that there was something more. Guts is a prequel of sorts to Smile and tells about the author's final year at elementary school. Beautifully illustrated, this graphic novel depicts her struggles with anxiety that begin shortly after she experiences a tummy bug. After seeing another kid teased for puking at school, Raina begins to fear that this too could happen to her. And she becomes determined not to allow it to happen, which means being very, very particular about what she eats and about other things. She also has some problems with an outspoken girl from her class who isn't always very kind to her and some of the other kids. As h...

I have to confess, I'm writing this review with a heavy heart. Sisters is the last of Raina Telgemeier's published graphic novels for me to review and as soon as this review goes live well, it's all over. Of course, I've had news that she is working on a new novel, and that list she put on Instagram recently of recommended YA and Middle Grade graphic novels helped me to feel a little better, but ... I guess it was one of those things. These books were such an unexpected, and welcome, surprise for me, that it's kind of hard to let them go. Anyway, much like Smile, Sisters is autobiographical. It tells the story of a road trip across the United States that Raina took with her mother, younger brother Will and, most important of all, her younger sister, Amara. The sisters don't always get along. There is a five year age gap between them, and through many of the flashbacks that make up an important portion of the novel, we learn that both sisters are artists...

After enjoying Smile so much, I just had to give another of Telgemeier's novels a go. Ghosts , her most recent release, is a paranormal story set in Northern California. Cat enjoys her life in Southern California and is disappointed that the family is moving to a small coastal town up north. Cat resents leaving all of her friends behind, but she understands why they have to move--her parents think that the cool, salty air will be better for her younger sister Maya, who suffers from Cystic Fibrosis. Determined to hate the town and everything in it, Cat has a good reason to be suspicious when the boy next door offers to take them on a ghost tour, and a chance encounter with some ghosts plays havoc with Maya's health. Cat makes up her mind that she wants nothing to do with any of the ghosts or the customs that the local population have brought with them from their Mexican ancestors. But the ghosts, and Carlos from next door, have other ideas ... A little different from Smi...

Being in desperate need of some cheering up, I purchased this graphic novel the other week and I found myself completely drawn in by this autobiographical account of Telgemier's years in Middle School, and her first year of high school. This happened, despite the fact that after I read and reviewed Drama (another Telgemeier graphic novel,) I decided that these books really were just for kids and I should bloody well read something a bit more age appropriate. Anyway, I bought a copy of Smile just at the right time and it turned out to be the right book to turn my shitty day around. Smile tells the story of an accident that led to the loss of the author's two front teeth when she was in sixth grade. What follows is years of painful dental visits, braces and, at one point she has to wear a retainer with two false teeth attached. While all of this is going on, she has to navigate her first crush, the discovery of her real love (drawing) and some pretty awful bullying from ...

After enjoying two of the BSC Graphix novels recently, I decided to delve a bit deeper into author/artist Raina Telgemeier's work and discovered this cute little gem. It's all about a middle school drama production--but instead of focusing on the actors, it concentrates on the kids who work behind the scenes, in particular Callie, the set designer who is struggling with her first crush and being bullied by one of the other kids who is working on the play. Fortunately, a pair of twins bombastic Justin and shy Jesse offer Callie not only friendship, but a new outlook as well. Most of the novel deals with how things go wrong (and occasionally right,) behind the scenes, and the characters as they navigate various crushes and their sexuality. As an adult reader, this probably wasn't the best fit--although I could appreciate the good writing and illustrations, the life lessons that the characters learn along the way are more valuable to readers who are in the target audie...

Longtime readers and fans of this blog may recall that during 2012 I committed to reviewing what was then four books in the BSC Graphix series. For one reason or another, I never published a review of the fourth novel in the series, Claudia and Mean Janine. As a fifth book has just been released in the series (and as of December 2017 is sitting on my to-review pile,) I decided to re-read this one and publish a review. Ps I ramble on a bit in the first paragraph of this review so if you would rather just read a review of the book, it's probably best to skip to the second paragraph.  The BSC Graphix series was always going to be a little different from the books that inspired them. For one thing, technology has changed considerably since the early novels in the Baby-sitters Club series were published in 1986. And there is also no arguing that Claudia's second novel in the original series, Claudia and Mean Janine , which contains themes of sibling rivalry and illness, pack...

Okay, I have a confession to make. I have a bit of a soft spot for Mary Anne Spier. Sure, she was a bit sappy, and poorly drawn in places (what was it with her taking a basket to school instead of a backpack,) but of all the characters in the series, she was probably the loneliest. Shy, quiet Mary Anne lived alone with her father, a lawyer who seemed to have little understanding about raising girls and does not communicate much with his daughter, though she is expected to cook dinner every night. (On a sidenote, what is it about male lawyers and their limited ability to be able to communicate with females? Okay, maybe I'm stereotyping here, but from what I've witnessed in real life ...) Anyway, Mary Anne is subject to a whole lot of ridiculous rules, which, oddly, seem to include her being forced to wear her hair in two long braids. I guess Richard Spier is concerned about the sexualization of children and you know, doesn't want his daughter wandering around in a boob t...

In 1986 when Ann M. Martin and Scholastic released the third novel of their new Babysitters Club series, they set the benchmark for what the series would become--this was bigger than a series about a group of girls having wacky or unpredictable adventures. Kristy's Great Idea introduced the characters, while the now horribly-dated (to the point where it was never re-released as a graphic novel,) second volume Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls helped to build on those themes. The Truth About Stacey , however, proved that there was a lot more depth to this series, through both its main plot (about a young woman living with a serious illness that separated her from her peers,) and the two subplots--one where Stacey's sitting charge is bullied by her peers for being different, and where a group of girls set up a rival babysitting club and neglect their sitting charges. And consider the fact that this was all written in such a way that nine year olds could understand it. Qui...

Twenty years after the first BSC book, Kristy's Great Idea was released, Scholastic decided to go back and do it all again, this time in graphic novel format. And you know what? I love it. It's basically the same story of how the Babysitters Club formed. The backstory for each character is the same (Kristy is struggling to accept her mother's new boyfriend, Claudia is jealous of her smart older sister, Mary-Anne's father is overprotective and Stacey wants to keep her illness a secret.) And, of course, Stoneybrook still has that wholesome 1950s sensibility. As for the graphic format, it's interesting to see how artist Raina Telgemeier depicted each of the characters. Kristy and Stacey each look roughly how I imagined them, Mary-Anne comes across a little dorkier and, sorry, but Claudia looks like a forty-year-old hooker in places. In parts, the novel reminded me a little of Lynne Johnson's brilliant  For Better or For Worse comic strip. Over all, a fun nosta...