Is this a brand-new fictional graphic novel like Smile or Guts?

No. Facing Feelings is a non-fiction art process book and biography. While it contains plenty of comic panels and art, it is structured around an exhibition, featuring interviews, photographs, early sketches, and commentary rather than a single story narrative.

Do graphic novels like Raina Telgemeier's actually build real reading skills?

Yes, absolutely. Graphic novels develop the language comprehension strands of literacy—vocabulary, narrative structure, inference, and character motivations. They are full-fledged literary experiences, especially beneficial for visual thinkers and building reading confidence.

Does the book discuss anxiety and health issues?

Yes. Just like in her book Guts, Raina discusses her personal history with panic attacks, emetophobia (fear of throwing up), and therapy. She handles these subjects with openness and warmth, framing therapy as a normal, helpful tool.

Is this book interesting for a kid who doesn't draw?

Yes. While young artists will love seeing the drafting process, any kid who enjoyed her graphic memoirs will appreciate learning the true stories and background behind her famous books and characters.

Facing Feelings: Inside the World of Raina Telgemeier – WISE Score & Parent Review | Screenwise

Facing Feelings: Inside the World of Raina Telgemeier

Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

bookJuvenile Nonfiction

93%

WISE Score

An art exhibition turned deep-dive book that breaks down how Raina Telgemeier turned childhood anxiety and dental trauma into graphic novel gold.

Facing Feelings: Inside the World of Raina Telgemeier

book

Juvenile Nonfiction

93%

WISE Score

An art exhibition turned deep-dive book that breaks down how Raina Telgemeier turned childhood anxiety and dental trauma into graphic novel gold.

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Where to Read

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Screenwise Verdict

If your kid devoured Smile, Sisters, or Guts, this companion book is an immediate hit. Built around a retrospective exhibition at Ohio State's Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, it functions as half author biography and half art process masterclass.

Raina goes directly into how childhood dental trauma, medical worries, panic attacks, and family dynamics became the raw material for her graphic novels. She includes childhood sketches, rejected drafts, and personal commentary on how she translates abstract emotions into comic panels.

The main thing to clarify for your kid before opening it: this is an informational art companion, not a brand-new fictional story line. For creative kids or reluctant writers who want to see how books actually get made, it is gold.

Age Fit

Ideal for kids ages 8 to 14, especially middle-grade fans of graphic novels, creative writing, or comic art.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

Offers an open-hearted, emotionally healthy look at growing up, dealing with body issues, managing anxiety, and going to therapy without preachy lecturing.

Imaginative

Packed with behind-the-scenes sketches, early childhood artwork, visual development notes, and creative inspiration for young writers and illustrators.

Safe

Safe, gentle juvenile non-fiction. Briefly touches on personal medical anxiety, panic, and dental procedures in an age-appropriate way.

Enriching

Excellent insights into creative process, storytelling mechanics, mental health literacy, and perseverance for aspiring artists and readers.

Parent Info

✓

Why It Might Be Great

Real art process: Shows early childhood drawings and messy thumbnail drafts, proving to kids that nobody starts out drawing perfectly.
Normalizes mental health: Digs into how Raina translates big feelings, panic attacks, and therapy into visual stories like Guts.
Deepens favorite books: Gives fans of Smile and Sisters the actual real-world backstory behind the characters they already know.

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What to Watch For

It is non-fiction, not a narrative graphic novel: Kids expecting a continuous story like Smile will find an interview, art retrospective, and commentary layout instead.
Honest talk about anxiety: Discusses real-life health worries, panic, and therapy, though handled with the author's trademark warmth.

Conversation Starters

"Raina shares some of her earliest childhood drawings in this book. What is something you drew a few years ago that looks totally different now?"
"She talks about using comics to process big emotions like anxiety. How do you like to get your feelings out when you feel overwhelmed?"
"If you made a graphic novel about one weird or chaotic week in your life, what would the main story be?"

Deep Dive

Behind the panels of the middle-grade graphic novel boom

It is hard to overstate how much Raina Telgemeier reshaped middle-grade reading. Before Smile hit shelves, comic books were often treated by publishers as a niche side category for reluctant readers. Telgemeier proved that young readers wanted honest, visual memoirs about normal life, awkward bodies, and middle school drama.

Facing Feelings functions as both a celebration of that legacy and an intimate tutorial on creative resilience. Derived from a museum retrospective at The Ohio State University, the book collects personal photos, early comic strips from her school years, rough thumbnail layouts, and full-color finished panels.

Using comics to make sense of big feelings

What makes Telgemeier's work stick isn't just the clean art style; it's her complete lack of posture about how overwhelming growing up feels. In Facing Feelings, she speaks openly about her struggles with panic disorder, emetophobia, and therapy, which formed the core of Guts.

Seeing an author analyze her own anxiety as a creative tool rather than something to hide is empowering for elementary and middle schoolers. For kids who want to draw their own stories, seeing the messy middle steps—the bad initial drawings, rejected cover designs, and hand-lettered revisions—is worth ten textbook lessons on writing.

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