Starred review from May 26, 2014
In this companion to Telgemeier’s Smile, the graphic artist writes about her relationship with her younger sister, Amara, using a summer cross-country trip as narrative scaffolding as she examines the contrast between her childhood wish for a sister and life with a sibling she often can’t fathom—although Amara seems to have uncanny insight into her. “You ever feel like you just don’t fit in?” Raina asks Amara at a family gathering full of contemptuous teenage cousins. “All the time,” Amara replies. “The difference between you and me is, I don’t care.” Like Smile, it’s an alternately poignant and laugh-out-loud funny account of pre-adolescence whose episodes range from small crimes (Raina lying to Amara so she doesn’t have to share her art supplies) to acute crises (Amara’s pet snake Mango on the loose in the family’s VW Microbus). Underneath the immediate problems lies poignant uncertainty about the state of their parents’ marriage. Though the artwork draws little attention to itself, Telgemeier’s visual storytelling skills are well-honed, and readers will be left wishing for more. Ages 8–12. Agent: Judith Hansen, Hansen Literary Agency. (Aug.)■

Starred review from June 1, 2014
Two sisters who are constantly at odds take a family road trip that covers more ground-both literally and figuratively-than they expect.After begging her parents for a sister, Raina gets more than she bargained for once Amara is born. From the moment she was brought home, Amara hasn't been quite the cuddly playmate that Raina had hoped. As the years pass, the girls bicker constantly and apparently couldn't be more unalike: Raina spends her time indoors underneath her headphones, and Amara loves animals and the outdoors. The girls, their mother and their little brother all pack up to drive to a family reunion, and it seems like the trip's just going to be more of the same, with the girls incessantly picking on each other all the way from San Francisco to Colorado. However, when the trip doesn't go quite as planned-for a number of reasons-the girls manage to find some common ground. Told in then-and-now narratives that are easily discernable in the graphic format, Telgemeier's tale is laugh-out-loud funny (especially the story about the snake incident) and quietly serious all at once. Her rounded, buoyant art coupled with a masterful capacity for facial expressions complements the writing perfectly. Fans of her previous books Smile (2010) and Drama (2012) shouldn't miss this one; it's a winner.A wonderfully charming tale of family and sisters that anyone can bond with. (Graphic memoir. 7-13)

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Starred review from July 1, 2014

Gr 4 Up-Telgemeier has returned with a must-have follow-up to Smile (Scholastic, 2010) that is as funny as it is poignant, and utterly relatable for anyone with siblings. This realistic graphic memoir tells the story of Raina; her sister, Amara; and her brother, Will, as they take a road trip with their mother from California to Colorado to join a family reunion. The author's narrative style is fresh and sharp, and the combination of well-paced and well-placed flashbacks pull the plot together, moving the story forward and helping readers understand the characters' point of view. The volume captures preadolescence in an effortless and uncanny way and turns tough subjects, such as parental marriage problems, into experiences with which readers can identify. This ability is what sets Telgemeier's work apart and makes her titles appealing to such a wide variety of readers. Not only does the story relay the road trip's hijinks, but it also touches on what happens with the advent of a new sibling and what it means to be truly sisters. Fans of the graphic novelist's work will be sure to delight in this return to the Telgemeier's family drama.-Krishna Grady, Darien Library, CT

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Starred review from June 1, 2014
Grades 5-8 *Starred Review* Telgemeier's follow-up to Smile (2010)possibly the only universally embraced graphic novel on the planetoffers the same thoughtful perspective while also creating a slightly more mature and complex tone. Raina boards the family minivan traveling from California to Colorado to visit relatives, sharing a charged and eventful trip with her mother, sister, and younger brother. Cleverly, the trip is interspersed with flashbacks that flesh out the emotional background and neatly dovetail with Smile. While the focus of the story explores Raina's combative relationship with her younger sister, Amara, it is in some sense about families themselves, the tensions they breed, the unspoken worries that swirl through households, and the ways an older generation's unintended example echoes through younger generations. This may sound dark and heavy, but it actually exists only as an underlying reality. Telgemeier keeps the surface story popping and zippy, even through the constant sparring between the awkwardly adolescent Raina and her firecracker younger sister, a relationship that will prove profoundly familiar to many readers. Telgemeier's art complements her writing to great effect, offering a cheerful, vivid cartoon simplicity that allows readers to instantly engage even as it leaves room for deeper truths to take hold. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: New York Times best-selling Smile continues to be one of the most widely loved kid's graphic novels in recent history. With a sizable first print run, Telgemeier's publisher is counting on a repeat performance.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2015
Fans of Telgemeier's graphic-novel memoir Smile will be smiling through this companion, an often bittersweet but amusing story about Raina's intense, difficult relationship with her younger sister, Amara. Sepia-toned pages mark flashbacks, which fill readers in on the evolution of this battle. Telgemeier's art humorously captures fourteen-year-old Raina's emotions, drawing readers into the road-trip story, which doesn't depend on having read the first book.

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from November 1, 2014
Fans of Telgemeier's graphic-novel memoir Smile will be smiling all the way through this companion book, an often bittersweet but amusingly told story about Raina's intense and difficult relationship with her younger sister, Amara. The summer before Raina starts high school, she and Amara, their younger brother, and their mom take a road trip from California to Colorado for a family reunion. As in Smile, sepia-toned pages mark the frequent flashbacks, which fill readers in on the evolution of this battle of the sisters, mainly involving Amara's outsized personality, her love of drawing (art had always been Raina's thing), and her love of snakes (Raina is terrified of them). In one crucial flashback Raina receives a Walkman for Christmas, and from then on she's able to tune out all the yelling (both happy and angry) in their small house. The Walkman also proves invaluable on the road trip -- until frustrated Amara informs Raina that not only has she tuned out all signs of their parents' troubled marriage, she's completely tuned out Amara. The story ends with a solidly believable truce between the warring siblings, who, one suspects, will continue to both annoy and support each other. Telgemeier's art humorously captures fourteen-year-old Raina's range of emotions, easily drawing readers into the story, which doesn't depend on having read the first book. The jacket art, however, cleverly ties this book to its predecessor: Smile's yellow smiley face with braces now also sports headphones, while a second (not-so-smiley) face glares angrily at the first. jennifer m. brabander

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

November 1, 2014
Fans of Telgemeier's graphic-novel memoir Smile will be smiling all the way through this companion book, an often bittersweet but amusingly told story about Raina's intense and difficult relationship with her younger sister, Amara. The summer before Raina starts high school, she and Amara, their younger brother, and their mom take a road trip from California to Colorado for a family reunion. As in Smile, sepia-toned pages mark the frequent flashbacks, which fill readers in on the evolution of this battle of the sisters, mainly involving Amara's outsized personality, her love of drawing (art had always been Raina's thing), and her love of snakes (Raina is terrified of them). In one crucial flashback Raina receives a Walkman for Christmas, and from then on she's able to tune out all the yelling (both happy and angry) in their small house. The Walkman also proves invaluable on the road trip -- until frustrated Amara informs Raina that not only has she tuned out all signs of their parents' troubled marriage, she's completely tuned out Amara. The story ends with a solidly believable truce between the warring siblings, who, one suspects, will continue to both annoy and support each other. Telgemeier's art humorously captures fourteen-year-old Raina's range of emotions, easily drawing readers into the story, which doesn't depend on having read the first book. The jacket art, however, cleverly ties this book to its predecessor: Smile's yellow smiley face with braces now also sports headphones, while a second (not-so-smiley) face glares angrily at the first. jennifer m. brabander

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)