Honestly helps me understand my kid. What a gift!

Another good Raina graphic novel. I love how she writes and draws about her life, this time with anxiety, panic attacks and IBS, and still makes it funny, charming, and relatable. The book is dedicated to "anyone who's afraid" - see? Relatable.

4/5 ⭐️

Too real, but in a good way.

How wonderful that Raina Telgemeier shared her journey with anxiety, family support, school stresses, counseling, mindfulness, and mental health with her gazillion readers who loved and ! I have already had her pages flash before my eyes when getting stressed, seeing Raina close her eyes, feel her feet on the floor to ground herself, slow down and breathe. A needed, welcoming, life-affirming memoir for upper elementary and middle grade students, as well as anyone who cares about someone with anxiety and phobias.

Another personally honest book by Telgemeier - this time dealing with anxiety and IBS. Something that is only recently becoming more known about. I remember 40 odd years ago having someone at school with a similar affliction and no one at all understanding what was going on with her - this is a valuable book making this type of thing visible and knowable by students of all ages.

4★ I could read the Smile series forever.

As someone who struggled with anxious stomachaches a lot as a kid, who cried when other kids threw up in class, and who still gets a little anxious about being sick in public, I related to this book so deeply. I wish I had had this as a kid to maybe explain why I was the only kid at the sleepover who always thought they were gonna puke after everyone went to sleep. Raina Telgemeier really nails the grown up perspective on something that bothered you as a child and I appreciated this book so much.

3.5

Easily the most accurate portrayal of anxiety that I have ever read in any book, whether it was for kids, teens, or adults. Raina Telgemeier *knows* anxiety. If I had this book when I was 11, I would have felt a lot less alone on all of the mornings that I woke up with an upset stomach and crippling anxiety. Well done.

Books like this are so important. They can help kids process what they’re going through. And knowing that a well known, loved author went through or is experiencing something like them, they might feel a little less alone. I love this whole series.

I have grown a lot since reading her first books (Smile, Sisters, Drama, etc.). I have even convinced myself that their are authors/illustrators who do it better than her, but I can’t deny how much I liked, and related to this one. In her signature bright illustrations, Raina tells the true story of her stomach troubles in middle school. Raina didn’t know what was wrong with her, but she did know that her stomach hurt all the time. She missed a lot of school and eventually started seeing a therapist after finding out that doctors could not find anything physically wrong with her. It was a story I think a lot of kids can relate to today. Many kids suffer from anxiety and depression, and have therapists so seeing that depicted in a book could be really helpful for them. It was another home-run for Telgemeier.

3.5