Guts: A Graphic Novel

Mom: “Good job, kiddo. Here’s some water.”

Raina: “Why does this taste sweet?!”

Mom: “Artichokes.”

Raina: “Huh?”

Mom: “We ate artichokes for dinner, which have a chemical in them that makes water taste sweet. The same is true—”

Raina: “If you barf them, too!”

This conversation between Raina and her mother is the culmination of their mutual trip to the bathroom after contracting an intestinal virus from little sister Amara. This is also Raina’s first notable encounter with vomiting, the possibility of which becomes her greatest fear. Any encounter with artichokes, one of her mother’s favorite foods, fills her with anxiety. Because any stress makes her feel nauseous, she walks through the narrative in a constant state of worry that something will make her throw up.

“You want to talk about weird? You should see the way my family eats. I like pizza, Coke, ice cream, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, tacos, and chips. I really, really like chips. My little brother, Will, is only one-and-a-half. He eats baby carrots, taco shells, grated cheddar cheese, and raw spaghetti. That’s it. My sister, Amara, is five. She likes salad. And French fries. And ketchup. Sooo much ketchup. She’ll eat pizza, but she rips the cheese off first. […] My dad really likes cheese. A lot. A lot-lot. […] My mom’s perfect meal—get this—is a glass of milk, a steamed artichoke, and mayonnaise.”

Talking to friends on the playground at lunch, Raina describes the typical Telgemeier family meal. The other three family members tend to have certain foods they enjoy and others they will not eat; for instance, Raina’s mother is a vegetarian, while her father is not. As the narrative progresses, Raina’s counselor Lauren points out she is overly concerned that the food she eats might negatively impact the meals or appetite of others, which creates an atmosphere of constant stress for her.

Mom: “Are you sick again, honey?”

Raina: “I...I think so...” […]

“I didn’t puke. But the thought that I might […] was worse than if I actually had.”

This is one of the episodes in which Raina feels nauseated without vomiting, which she experiences as worse than throwing up. Later in the