Smile

The Premise

    Raina is a young girl, ready to start middle school with a bang. And a bang is just what she gets when she trips and gets her front teeth knocked out. Overnight, Raina realizes that the road to recovery will be a long one. The story follows her through her middle school years as she deals with the stress of friends that are not as supportive as she thought, confusing crush situations and of course, her never-ending dental drama. Raina's story is funny but revealing. And so far, I really am enjoying the book.

                      

  Connections

     I feel like I have a lot of connections to this book. Raina is in middle school and faces a lot of problems that are common for middle schoolers. Things such as changing friendships, crushes on guys, schoolwork. Though the book is about her teeth injuries, it also centers around her longing to fit in. I feel like I, as well as a lot of other middle schoolers can connect to that. I find that her shifting friend groups is something I can really connect to, because I have had friendships that faded, and I have made lots of new friends through my time in middle school. This book is a good realistic fiction story that people in middle school will most likely be able to relate to.

Significant Passage

       I've just finished a passage that is a pretty big turning point in the book. Raina has just decided that she doesn't want to be friends anymore with the girls she got along with for years. Over the course of her years in middle school, they have began to treat her with less respect, often teasing her about her clothes or pulling pranks on her. But Raina has finally had enough when they pull down her pants in the cafeteria on her first day of high school. Then she meets Teresa, a nice girl, and she finds a group of friends where she feels like she belongs. Everything seems to straighten out for Raina in the end. Even her teeth.