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Guts Review: 6 Ways Raina Telgemeier’s New Book Shows Real Guts
It takes real guts to survive tweendom, and bestselling author and illustrator Raina Telgemeier definitely had what it takes to make it through that pivotal time—and she still does three decades later, because she’s sharing her experiences in all their real-deal, sometimes-embarrassing, and always-authentic glory with readers in her new highly anticipated graphic memoir, Guts, out September 17.
But it’s actually her gut that’s giving fourth-grade Raina problems in this brand-new release by the author of Smile, Sisters, Drama, and Ghosts. When young Raina wakes up with an upset stomach one night, she assumes it’s just a bug. But after awhile, it becomes clear to Raina and her parents that her tummy issues just aren’t going away—and now they’re accompanied by some intense worries about food, illness, school, friendships, and enemies.
Her funny and courageous story sheds light on important issues kids face and finding the guts to deal with them. And we’ve sussed out just what it is we think is so gutsy about Telgemeier’s latest book.
1) Guts tackles kids’ mental health head-on. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 4.4 million children ages 3–17 in the United States have diagnosed anxiety, and 1.9 million have diagnosed depression. And those are just the diagnosed cases. Plus, mental health issues in children and teens can look different than those in adults. For fourth-grade Raina in Guts, it looks like inexplicable stomach aches, nausea, panic attacks, and the sudden onset of new phobias. Readers get to see how Raina tries to manage these feelings on her own, how she ultimately seeks help from a therapist, and how she deals with the taboo—or her fear of there being a taboo—around her friends knowing she struggles with anxiety.
2) Fact: Everyone poops. Everybody gets gas. And Guts is here to remind us of that. Because of the whole mind-body connection all of us humans experience, stress and anxiety can equal headaches, sleeplessness, and—yes—potty problems, among other issues. And Telgemeier does not shy away from taking us into the bathroom with her as young Raina experiences some of the embarrassing side effects of her own anxiety when she has to run out of a class presentation for an emergency bathroom break and when she gets gas at a sleepover. Raina tries to talk to a friend about it who, in turn, quips, “I never get gas.” And as much as most tween girls wish that were true, it’s just not. So thank you, Guts, for laying it all out there and trying to take the taboo out of the occasional toot.
3) Puberty and periods are not dirty words. Puberty. We all have to go through it, and about half of the population will at some point get a menstrual period. And Telgemeier is not afraid to tell her readers that it’s all part of her story too. Periods don’t have to be a girl’s “deepest, darkest secret”—as one of Raina’s friends puts it during a slumber party. “Is that really a deep, dark secret?” Raina asks. “The way everyone acts about it? Yeah,” another pal adds. And yes, the truth is that a lot of adults even treat the word period like He Who Shall Not Be Named. So hurray for Guts for finding a much, much better way to broach the topic of puberty and periods than parents from the ’80s who mumbled something about “the birds and the bees” and left you a copy of What’s Happening to Me? outside your bedroom door.
4) Having a passion for something as a kid is cool. Sometimes kids can feel like being too into something—especially if they’re worried that something is uncool or possibly babyish—should be avoided and/or hidden at all costs. In Guts, Raina really goes after and sticks with her interests—comics and drawing—even when a mean girl at school proclaims, “Ugh, you nerds and your stupid cartoons” to her and her friends. And young readers know the fantastically amazing way sticking with her passion worked out for young Raina, because she grew up to be the popular, bestselling, award-winning author and illustrator we all can’t get enough of. So perhaps it will encourage kids to follow their own passions and not worry about what the naysayers think.
5) Guts serves up tween realness. Navigating school, the ever-changing dynamics of friends, frenemies, bullies, teachers, parents, siblings, hormones, body changes, homework, emotions, etc., etc., etc.—it’s hard. It’s really confusing to be a tween, and Telegemeier doesn’t sugarcoat it—nor does she make it seem unsurvivable—which is another reason we love her and that this latest book is a winner.
6) Being a tween/teen girl is not portrayed as a bad thing. “Ugh, girls this age are so hard. Boys are so much easier.” “Oh you think having a girl is nice when they’re little? Just wait till they’re tweens/teens.” “You’re done for once your little girl turns 12/13/14 …” “Teenage girls are the worst.” Many parents of tween and teen girls say these things—and, hello, the girls can hear them. Yes, the tweens and teens are tough years for everyone (lots of eyerolls, so many slammed bedroom doors, and crying—so much crying). It can be hard for tween and teen girls to feel understood and hard for the adults in their lives to understand them—perhaps because it’s been awhile since these adults have walked in a teenager’s Vans. But these girls are not bad, and being a tween/teen girl often gets a seriously bad rap. Telegemeier’s Guts doesn’t add to that harsh reputation, showing us just how big and confusing and up and down and all around things are in the rapidly changing mind and body of a tween girl.
Guts is on B&N bookshelves now!