Dental Disasters!

Smile by Raina Telgemeier

Aah, hanging out with your friends. You laugh. You go shopping. You have sleepovers and you always have fun. Well, imagine this: you and your friends are chasing each other one day and you trip. When you fall, you hit the cement. You hit the cement so hard that you knock out your two front teeth! This is exactly what happens to the character of Raina in the graphic novel Smile by Raina Telgemeier.

After an emergency trip to Dr. Golden's office, the dentist glues Raina's teeth back into her mouth. He covers them in gauze that soon becomes soggy and gross. When Raina takes off the gauze, she discovers that the teeth have been inserted too far. Now she looks like a vampire! Going to school looking like a vampire will definitely make boys notice her, but not in a good way.

Luckily, Raina's dentist can fix her teeth, but there is one problem – it's going to take years! So many trips to the dentist's office to get fake teeth, braces and even head gear! How would you like to be called your dentist's star patient and see him more than you see some of your friends? It's no fun at all. And while suffering from this dental humiliation, she still has to find time to do all the things that normal middle school girls do. She needs to do homework, attend dances, try out for the school basketball team and secretly stalk Sean, the boy she has a huge crush on.

Will Raina's teeth ever grow back? Will she ever look "normal" again? Or is she doomed to a lifetime of surgery, all because she tripped?

Find out more about the author and illustrator, Raina Telgemeier.
See an exclusive Smile sneak peek!

— Jen, Scholastic Booktalker

Comments

[Comment #1]

This one looks interesting...

[Comment #2]

i have the biggest over bite ever! so now i have braces and it is starting to get better!

[Comment #3]

Hey that looks like a good book...

Too bad for vamp grrl!

[Comment #4]

man that sounds like a good book! :)

[Comment #5]

That would be HORRIBLE if something like that happened to me or one of my friends!!!

[Comment #6]

Sounds so kool! ill try and read it! :)

[Comment #7]

This book sounds kinda funny.

[Comment #8]

I think its a good book, and a lot of people will enjoy reading it, although personally, I prefer reading other books that are more to do with fantasy :)

[Comment #9]

man i hat braicelets dont you and olot

[Comment #10]

can i go on to the 7th level

[Comment #11]

hi i had the same thing happen to me but i didnt lose any of my bones in my mouth but i had to get braces i still have them it hurt so bad to get them on but now i got use to it the worst part about is have them on my top and the bottom so the wire goes in my gum some times

[Comment #12]

hey i lubb reina she is an awesome artist i read the baby sitters club graphic novels and i lent it to my bffz, they lubbed it 2! i really wanna read this, it looks good!!!

[Comment #13]

omg that sounds so funny I have to read that!!!! LOL

[Comment #14]

sounds like a cool book! can't wait to read it!!!

[Comment #15]

Sounds cool. I'll be sure to pick it up at the Library next tm I go.

[Comment #16]

omg! i bet if i read that book my eyes would be glued to the page for sure! i am gonna get my braces tomorrow i am so exited!

[Comment #17]

This book souds great!!

[Comment #18]

That sounds like a horrible situation. If she hadn't lost her baby teeth yet, she could still grow the grown-up teeth, but it sounded like she was older than that

[Comment #19]

This book is amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Comment #20]

Looks COOL!
Heard it was a Graphix novel

[Comment #21]

This book sounds so good. Speaking of teeth, I have braces.

[Comment #22]

I'm so gonna read that!