Even as she copes with anxiety disorder and what is eventually diagnosed as mild irritable bowel syndrome, she experiences the typical stresses of school life, going from cheer to panic in the blink of an eye. Thought bubbles surround Raina in some panels, crowding her with anxious “what if”s, while in others her negative self-talk appears to be literally crushing her. Amping up the green, wavy lines to evoke Raina’s nausea, Telgemeier brilliantly produces extremely accurate visual representations of stress and anxiety. Her therapist helps her learn to ground herself and relax, and in turn she teaches her classmates for a school project. At first Raina isn’t sure about seeing a therapist, but over time she develops healthy coping mechanisms to deal with her stress and anxiety.

She worries about sharing food with her friends and eating certain kinds of foods, afraid of getting sick or food poisoning. Raina begins having regular stomachaches that keep her home from school. Even a year later, when she is in fifth grade, she fears getting sick. Young Raina is 9 when she throws up for the first time that she remembers, due to a stomach bug.

The commendable focus on a boy/girl friendship is somewhat offset by the flatness of the individual characters, particularly Leo. When Amanda learns that Leo is likewise stuck, the former friends join forces, learning that dramatic consequences result from their smallest actions and discovering, in a somewhat contrived conclusion, what an old feud, an enchantment and the apple grove long since replaced by the town mall have to do with their extraordinary friendship. She muddles through a rotten day only to discover that she has to relive it, literally, over and over. Implausibly, Amanda’s grudge endures for an entire year, and she finds herself, stubborn and miserable, celebrating her 11th birthday alone.

In an extreme overreaction, she flees the party and cuts Leo out of her life.

That is, until their tenth birthday party, at which Amanda happens to overhear Leo talking her down to some classmates. In this slow-paced middle-school friendship saga, mildly spiced with a bit of fantasy, readers meet Amanda and Leo, best friends who have spent every birthday together since day one.

Wendy mass birthday series