Raina Telgemeier

Win a signed copy of Smile by Raina Telgemeier

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It’s been a bit quiet on My Best Friends Are Book lately as I’ve been settling in to my new role as a school librarian.  I’m catching up on books I’ve missed and I’ll try and post lots over the school holidays.  Anyway, here is an exciting new competition for you!

I got to attend the IBBY Congress in Auckland last month and one of the authors that I met was graphic novelist Raina Telgemeier.  Raina is the creator of such awesome graphic novels as Smile, Sisters and Drama, and she has also adapted some of The Babysitters Club stories into graphic novels.  While at IBBY I got a copy of Smile signed (and doodled in) by Raina to give away on the blog.

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All you have to do to enter is email bestfriendsrbooks@gmail.com with the subject ‘Smile,’ along with your name and address.  I will draw a winner at random.  Competition closes Friday 30 September (NZ only).

Reading Matters 2013 – Highlights #5

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My life in comics – Raina Telgemeier

Raina Telgemeier’s session kicked off day two of Reading Matters and it was the perfect way to get everyone in the mood for another day of bookish delights.  Raina started by talking about her influences, which include cartoons from her childhood (Smurfs, Strawberry Shortcake and Scooby Doo), books by Roald Dahl and her favourite book, Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O’Brien.  As a graphic storyteller there are quite a few graphic novels that have influenced her, including  Calvin and Hobbs, For Better or Worse by Lynn Johnston, the Bones graphic novels by Jeff Smith, and Barefoot Gen, a cartoon story of Hiroshima which made her realise that comics could tell powerful stories.

Raina’s first graphic novel, Smile, is a love letter to her home town San Francisco and ’90s fashion.  She says that she ‘wrote this story just to get the memories out if my head.’ Her family members became a huge part of the story (it’s autobiographical) and they love being cartoon characters.  Every character in the story has a route in a real person.  It seems to have really struck a chord with her readers as she has heard from lots of boys and girls who have been with something very similar.  Raina wishes that she could ‘go back in time and tell her 12 year old self that it would be OK.’

Drama was inspired by her time as a theatre nut.  It includes ‘stage fright, annoying brothers, mean girls, cute boys, school dances and bubble tea.’

Raina took us through the different stages of putting a graphic novel together.  First, she creates thumbnail sketches of each page, in which she decides where characters will stand and where the action will take place.  Next, she does the penciling (where she spends more time on the artwork), inking (using a watercolour brush and ink), digitization, colouring, cover design, and the mock-up of the final jacket.

I loved Raina’s explanation of why she creates graphic novels, ‘I wanted to see myself, my friends and family, in comics.’ She believes that ‘kids need role models of kids who are just good people.’ I wholeheartedly agree with this!

Raina’s next book is a companion to Smile, called Sisters (coming in 2014), which will be stories about Raina and her sister.

Check out some photos of Raina’s live drawing that she did while answering questions from the audience. So cool!

 

Reading Matters 2013 – Highlights #1

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Action! – Gayle Forman, Tim Sinclair and Raina Telgemeier discuss the highs and lows of teen life

The first question for the authors was why do they depict the teen experience? What is it about YA that appeals to them? I guess I’ve always just thought that it was the story they wanted to write (and this is apart of it), but they gave some great reasons.  Tim said he thought grownups were boring because they slowly angst about things that they can’t change.  Raina remembers every detail about her teenage years so it’s easy to write about it.  Alot of these details of her teenage life makes it into her books.  Gayle writes ‘about young people, but not young stories’ and she said that writing for teens was a way to relive her teenage years.  Characters between the ages of 17 and 22 often invade her brain so she has to write about them.

Each of the authors felt that they had different responsibilities as a writer of books for teens.  Gayle said that it’s important to ‘tell an emotionally authentic story.’  Raina believes that it’s important to write books for teens who don’t enjoy reading.  It’s her responsibility to hook those teenagers who haven’t ‘found’ books yet.  It was at this point that Gayle talked about the importance of librarians and came out with one of my favourite lines of the conference, ‘Librarians are crack dealers.’ It’s our job to get teenagers addicted to books and coming back to the library to get their next fix.

There was also some discussion about labels. Raina hates the way that people dismiss her books as children’s or YA, or when they say it’s ‘just a comic.’ Tim hates the ‘poet’ label.  He wouldn’t want his books (which are verse novels) put in the poetry section of a bookshop because ‘that’s where books go to die.’ When they were asked if YA is a genre or a readership, Tim quickly replied that YA is ‘just awesome!’

The next books they’re working on are:

  • Gayle Forman – a novel called ‘A Code Unknown’: a suicide/mystery/love-story.
  • Tim Sinclair – a ‘novel-novel’ and that’s all he’ll say.
  • Raina Telgemeier – a companion novel to ‘Smile’, called ‘Sisters’ coming 2014