Guts ~ Raina Telgemeier

Anyone have students with anxiety? 🙋🏻‍♀️

I’m willing to bet that most you nodded your head yes to that question. The unfortunate thing is, it’s not talked about much in YA or middle grade books. 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.

In this story, protagonist Raina, begins to experience anxiety that manifests physically and mentally (as anxiety usually does). 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. 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.

As an anxiety sufferer myself, I know all too well how irrational anxiety can be. 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. This one should definitely be on your shelf, particularly because anxiety seems to be on the rise among adolescents 😔.

Maturity: 1/4

This novel is perfect for students age 9+.  It has no mature content.  

Pages: 211

Lexile: GN480L

GN simply stands for “graphic novel.” 

Lexile is a score that helps educators and parents match students with an appropriate text. A Lexile score is a measure of both a child’s reading ability and a text difficulty. However, Lexile does not take into account the content of a novel. 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.

If you are curious about the grade-level equivalent to Lexile scores, check out the conversion chart here!

Happy Reading!

♥ Kara & Riley