Sisters by Raina Telgemeier (Smile Book 2)

Published 2014

Raina can’t wait to be a big sister. But once Amara is born, things aren’t quite how she expected them to be. Amara is cute, but she’s also a cranky, grouchy baby, and mostly prefers to play by herself. Their relationship doesn’t improve much over the years. But when a baby brother enters the picture, and later, when something doesn’t seem right between their parents, they realize they must figure out how to get along. They are sisters, after all. –Goodreads

My Review

I chose this book because of its popularity amongst my students. I have a few students that have read this book, Drama, Smile, and Ghosts. I was also intrigued when I learned this book is about her life.

I gave this book FIVE STARS! I am usually not one to choose a graphic novel. I struggle reading these kinds of books because I don’t like stopping to look at the pictures. I never know if I should read the entire page and then look at the pictures, go box by box, or pictures first. However, I did find a good pace to my reading and found a balance between the words and the pictures.

Do I think this book could have been written as a novel? I’m not sure. There would have to be a lot of details and description added. I liked seeing the pictures that showed the feelings and frustrations of all of the characters at once. This is a family full of very different and strong personalities and I loved their facial expressions that showed their differences. In a graphic novel, you can see it easily. In a novel, it would take some describing to show how each character was reacting. I thnk you get a great overall picture of the family and struggles that you wouldn’t get in a novel.

This was one of my favorite parts. I identified immediately because of the tantrum-throwing toddler. She illustrated it so well.

Recommendation

I recommend reading Smile first. After that, I think that this book would be perfect for those that have younger siblings, have been on “fun” family trips, and enjoy a little humor.