Recommended Age: Middle School and Up
Opinion: Squeamishly Recommended
This book contains good messages such as the normalization of attending therapy, supporting peers when they’re ill, and learning coping strategies for anxiety. There’s hardly anything I would call morally questionable, however the constant mentioning of vomiting, going to the bathroom, and upset stomachs makes this reviewer a bit squeamish.
Advisories: cartoon portrayals of vomit, poop, and sitting on the toilet; name-calling and teasing, and a few other minor things
Details:
Guts is not going to be the book for everyone, especially if they’re a bit squeamish like me, but it is still a book I recommend. The overall theme of learning to navigate phobias and anxiety with the support of a therapist is a really important takeaway. I appreciate that more authors are bringing light to mental health issues such as this. Some readers will relate to the main character Raina and how her anxiety manifests in physical symptoms such as upset stomachs and needing to go the bathroom. Other readers will at least be able to learn more about these conditions and hopefully develop empathy and consideration for those who may be affected. This is a book I would keep on my shelf and would recommend to others (unless they’re really squeamish!).
Things I Like:
- diversity of characters — Example: Raina’s good friend is Korean American and mentions of her food comes up more than once (ex: p. 95)
- Raina learns different coping strategies from her therapist to deal with her phobias and anxiety (ex: p. 108, 153) and shares these with peers (p. 180-182)
- classmates make a large get-well poster for an ill peer (p.192-193)
- normalization of going to therapy (p. 200)
Advisories:
- cartoon portrayal of vomit (p. 9)
- Raina is depicted sitting on a toilet with her pants down (p. 30, 42)
- name-calling and teasing (p. 10, 49, 92)
- cartoon portrayal of a fecal sample [eww…] (p. 167)
- discussion about periods (p. 197) — while there’s nothing inherently wrong with this, some parents may not be ready to introduce this idea to their reader
- character mentions her father gets drunk sometimes and yells (p. 198)
Illuminated Pages 