Book SummarySmile, by Raina Telgemeier

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Smile

Think back to middle school: the mounds of homework, the humiliation and excitement of crushes, and waking up to find that your body looks different than it did the day before. Imagine that on top of all of this, a face-first tumble onto the pavement has lodged your two front teeth higher into your mouth, and you’ve found out you’ll need years of dental work to correct your wonky teeth.

This is what happened to comic artist Raina Telgemeier, who recounts her middle school years in her autobiographical graphic novel, Smile. Through her exploration of adolescence, self-consciousness, romance, and the horrors of dental work, Telgemeier sends an uplifting message: that you can achieve confidence by focusing less on your appearance and more on your interests. While Telgemeier’s graphic novel...

Smile Summary Part 1: 6th Grade

The Start of Raina’s Dental Work

Smile begins with a scene of Raina forcing a grin: She’s at the dentist, and they’ve ordered her to smile wide so they can snap a photo of her teeth. After the dentist examines her mouth, he shares the news that she’ll soon need to get braces to correct her overbite—which Raina isn’t happy to hear.

Supporting Youth Who Need Braces

It’s common for children to have an overbite and get braces. Nearly 70% of US children have some degree of an overbite (though not every child with an overbite receives treatment), and 50 to 70% of US children get braces. It’s also common to dread getting braces, especially if you’re a teenager with concerns about your appearance.

According to one expert, there are several ways to support a teenager who’s upset about needing braces....

Smile Summary Part 2: 7th Grade

Raina’s Teeth Increase Her Self-Consciousness

In the first half of seventh grade, Raina’s teeth contribute to her feelings of self-consciousness. Her dentist shares the bad news that Raina’s braces are failing to pull her two front teeth down—therefore, she’ll need a different treatment that will require her to visit the dentist more frequently and get braces again. Raina spends weeks worrying about this new treatment and how “nerdy” she’ll look with braces. Her constant worrying makes it hard for her to pay attention at school.

(Shortform note: Raina’s weeks spent worrying about her teeth and how they’ll affect her appearance is an example of situational anxiety: a common type of anxiety that arises when you’re facing a specific, temporary challenge. Although Raina doesn’t seek treatment for her situational anxiety, experts claim that treatment can help. If your situational anxiety is serious, professionals may recommend anti-anxiety medication as a treatment. If your anxiety is less serious, they may recommend you try certain coping mechanisms, such as engaging in deep breathing, increasing...

Smile Summary Part 3: 8th Grade

Raina’s Crush on Sean Guides Her Choices

Raina begins eighth grade focused on how she can win Sean’s attention, but her concerns about her appearance persist. Raina fantasizes about Sean kissing a more glammed-up version of herself—one who resembles a movie star with neatly-styled hair, clear skin, a great figure, and perfect teeth. When Raina snaps out of her fantasy, she reflects that due to her imperfect appearance, she likely won’t get to kiss Sean in the near future.

(Shortform note: When Raina fantasizes about Sean, she imagines an idealized version of herself rather than her current self. Some experts claim that imagining an idealized version of yourself boosts your ambition and success. For instance, self-help author Brian Tracy argues that [the most successful people have a clear image of their ideal self and use it as a goal to strive...

Smile Summary Part 4: 9th Grade

Raina Faces Social Exclusion and More Teasing

Raina begins her first day of high school feeling more confident than usual: She likes how she looks in her new outfit, and her years of dental treatment have made her teeth look “almost-normal”—“almost” because she still has braces. (Shortform note: Braces were the most common way for teens to straighten their teeth in the late 90s and early 2000s when Raina was a teen. Today, teens have an additional option for straightening their smile: using clear plastic aligners. While many teens prefer the look of clear aligners over that of braces, these aligners have several drawbacks that braces don’t have—for instance, you have to be disciplined about cleaning them well and remembering to put them back in.)

Despite Raina feeling confident on her first day of high school, her confidence plummets when she joins her friends from eighth grade for lunch and overhears them reminiscing about summer plans that she hadn’t been invited to. This social exclusion soon escalates to hurtful teasing. Raina’s friends tease her when they see all of the items Raina has...

Shortform Exercise: Plan How to Support an Adolescent You Know

Telgemeier’s graphic novel shows both how difficult it is to be a teenager—as well as how rewarding it can be for teens to persist through their challenges and achieve confidence. Think about how you could support an adolescent in your life.

Think about a teenager in your life who is struggling with their confidence. (They could be your child, a family member, someone you work with, or someone you teach.) Note down who this teenager is, the confidence struggles they have, and why you think they may struggle in these areas.