| Raina Telgemeier | |
|---|---|
 Telgemeier receiving an Inkpot Award in 2023 | |
| Born | Raina Diane Telgemeier (1977-05-26)May 26, 1977 (age 47) San Francisco, California, U.S. |
Notable works | Smile (2010) Drama (2012) Sisters (2014) Ghosts (2016) Guts (2019) |
| Awards | Eisner: 2011 (Smile), 2015 (Sisters), 2017 (Ghosts),Dwayne McDuffie Award for Kids' Comics: 2017 (Ghosts),Inkpot Award: 2023 |
| Spouse(s) | |
| goraina | |
Raina Telgemeier (/ˈtɛlɡəˌmaɪər/;[1] born May 26, 1977[2]) is an Americancartoonist. Her works include the autobiographical webcomicSmile, which was published as a full-color middle grade graphic novel in February 2010, and the follow-upSisters and the fiction graphic novelDrama, all of which have been onThe New York Times Best Seller lists. She has also written and illustrated the graphic novelsGhosts andGuts as well as four graphic novels adapted fromThe Baby-Sitters Club stories byAnn M. Martin.
Raina Diane Telgemeier was born on May 26, 1977, in San Francisco, California, and grew up there.[3][4] She has two younger siblings, Amara and Will.[5] According to Telgemeier, she knocked out two front teeth while insixth grade and needed braces and multiple surgeries as a result.[6] She attendedLowell High School in San Francisco.[7]
Telgemeier studied illustration at New York'sSchool of Visual Arts;[3] she graduated in 2002.[8][9]
After graduating from theSchool of Visual Arts, Telgemeier began attending small-press festivals such as theMoCCA Festival, selling self-published autobiographical stories and vignettes from her life. She produced seven mini-comics issues in theTake-Out series between 2002 and 2005. Each was a twelve-page black-and-white comic.[9][10][11] Other early works include a short story inBizarro World forDC Comics[12] and a short story in Volume 4 of theFlight anthology.[13]
In 2004, Telgemeier joinedGirlamatic, a subscription-based webcomics site dedicated to female writers.[14] Telgemeier has said that the disciplined structure and schedule of publishing a weekly webcomic encouraged her to develop the autobiographical storySmile.[9][better source needed]
Her main breakthrough into published comics came from creating graphic novel adaptations ofBaby-Sitters Club novels.[3] In a piece forCosmopolitan, Telgemeier said that she met an editor fromScholastic at an art gallery party in 2004 who mentioned that Scholastic was thinking of setting up a graphic novelimprint. At that year'sSan Diego Comic-Con, Telgemeier met that editor's boss, who invited her to pitch an idea for Scholastic. After Telgemeier mentioned she had been a fan ofAnn M. Martin'sThe Baby-Sitters Club series, they asked her to work up a graphic novel adaptation.[15][9] Scholastic, through its imprint Graphix, went on to publish four graphic novels in the series:Kristy's Great Idea,The Truth About Stacey,Mary Anne Saves the Day, andClaudia and Mean Janine.[16] According to Telgemeier, the advances for the adaptations allowed Telgemeier to quit her full-time job and concentrate on her art, and she completed the fourthBaby-Sitters Club novel in 2008.[17]
In 2009,Del Rey Manga released the graphic novelX-Men: Misfits, which Telgemeier co-wrote with her then-husband,Dave Roman. It spent at least five weeks on theNew York Times bestseller list for Paperback Graphic Books.[18]
In February 2010, Telgemeier released a print graphic novel version of her webcomicSmile.Smile first featured on aNew York Times bestseller list in 2011 and as of October 2020 it is still on theNew York Times Bestseller List for Graphic Books and Manga.[19]
Telgemeier followedSmile with several original graphic novels, all of which have made aNew York Times Bestseller List:[20][21][19]
Telgemeier has continued to contribute to anthologies, includingNursery Rhyme Comics (2011,First Second),Fairy Tale Comics (2013, First Second); theExplorer graphic novel series (2012, 2013,Abrams/Amulet); andComics Squad: Recess! (2014,Random House).[27]
Of her work, Telgemeier said, "I'm more aware than ever of what I want to say to kids through my books [...] it's going to be O.K. That everybody, with just a little bit of talking and a little bit of empathy, can find out that they have a lot in common."[28]
In 2021,Salt & Straw partnered with Scholastic Inc. and made a line of comics-themed ice creams.[29] Telgemeier's ice cream flavor was called "Smile: Words & Pictures" which Salt & Straw said was "A pencil-inspired yellow and pink almond-infused sponge cake and Stracciatella ''pencil shavings'' are strewn about a notebook paper-esque canvas, in this case trusty vanilla ice cream."[30]
In 2023, Telgemeier announced she had finished pencilling her next, untitled graphic novel, though would not be inking the pages as with previous books.[31] Scholastic later announced the title,The Cartoonists Club, co-written withScott McCloud, with a publication date of April 1, 2025.[32][33]
As of 2019, Telgemeier's books collectively have more than 18 million copies in print.[34] According to David Saylor, publisher at Graphix, "Raina single-handedly created the market for middle-grade graphic memoir".[34] Telgemeier's work has won several awards and nominations, including fiveEisner Awards, and has been included on many lists of recommended books.
| Year | Nominated work | Category | Result | Refs. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Inkpot Award | Won | [35] | |
| 2020 | Guts | Eisner Award – Best Publication for Kids | Won | [36] |
| 2020 | Guts | Eisner Award – Best Writer/Artist | Won | [36] |
| 2017 | Ghosts | Eisner Award – Best Publication for Kids (ages 9–12) | Won | [36] |
| 2017 | Sisters | Young Hoosier Book Award – Intermediate | Won | [37] |
| 2015 | Sisters | Eisner Award – Best Writer/Artist | Won | [36] |
| 2014 | Smile | Young Hoosier Book Award – Intermediate | Won | [37] |
| 2013 | Drama | Stonewall Book Award – Honor Books in Children's and Young Adult Literature | Won | [38] |
| 2011 | Smile | Eisner Award – Best Publication for Teens | Won | [36] |
| 2011 | Smile | Children's Choice Book Awards – Fifth Grade to Sixth Grade Book of the Year | Nominated | [39] |
| 2010 | Smile | Boston Globe-Horn Book Award – Nonfiction | Nominated | [40] |
| Smile (webcomic version) | Web Cartoonists' Choice Award – Outstanding Slice-of-Life Webcomic | Nominated | [41] | |
| Smile (webcomic version) | Web Cartoonists' Choice Award – Outstanding Slice-of-Life Webcomic | Nominated | [41] | |
| 2005 | Smile (webcomic version) | Eisner Award – Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition | Nominated | [42] |
| 2003 | Take-Out | Lulu Awards –Kimberly Yale Award for Best New Talent | Won | [43] |
| 2003 | Take-Out | Ignatz Awards – Promising New Talent | Nominated | [44] |
| 2003 | Take-Out | Ignatz Awards – Outstanding Minicomic | Nominated | [44] |
 |
| Year | Work | Organization | List | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Sisters | New York Times | Editor's Choice | [45] |
| 2011 | Smile | Young Adult Library Services Association | 2011 Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens | [46] |
| 2011 | Smile | Association for Library Service to Children | 2011 Notable Children's Books (Middle Readers) | [47] |
| 2010 | Smile | Kirkus Reviews | Best of 2010 for Teens | [48] |
| 2007 | Baby Sitter's Club: Kirsty's Great Idea | Young Adult Library Services Association | 2007 Great Graphic Novels for Teens | [49] |
All five of her original graphic novels have made aThe New York Times Best Seller list, as has at least one of herBaby-Sitters Club adaptations andX-Men: Misfits.[20][21][19][18] On May 10, 2015, the top four books onThe New York Times Best Seller list for paperback graphic books were all by Telgemeier:Drama,Smile,Sisters, andKristy's Great Idea.[20]Smile first featured on aNew York Times bestseller list in 2011 and as of October 2020 it is still on theNew York Times Bestseller List for Graphic Books and Manga.[19]
In 2017, Telgemeier was named the "Most Important Comics Creator" by Comics Worth Reading, which cited herBookScan numbers, copies sold, and influence on the modern comics market as reasons why.[50]
According to the ALA,Drama was among the top ten most challenged book in libraries and schools in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. Reasons given for challenges and bans have included having LGBTQIA+ content and characters, sexually explicit content, an "offensive political viewpoint", being "confusing", and for concerns that it goes against "family values/morals".[51]
According to theWyoming State Library, one such challenge occurred inLaramie, Wyoming, famously the site of the homophobia-motivated killing ofMatthew Shephard, in 2020, by a man who didn't like that his child had selected it in class. The 75 attendees at the public hearing largely spoke in favor of the book, and the challenge was dismissed by universal decision of the committee.[52]
Telgemeier was married to fellow cartoonistDave Roman;[3] they married in 2006[53] but they filed for divorce in 2015.[34]
She currently lives inSan Francisco,California.[54] She has lived inAstoria,New York.[3][55]
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In 2002, shortly before graduation from the School of Visual Arts in New York
The first four BSC graphic novels were adapted by Raina Telgemeier, herself a BSC fan.
Telgemeier's black-and-white graphic novels were published from 2006 to 2008.
Raina: We got married in December of 2006, just a few months ago!
