Smile: A Graphic Novel

Reading Check questions are designed for in-class review on key plot points or for quick verbal or written assessments. Multiple Choice and Short Answer Quizzes create ideal summative assessments, and collectively function to convey a sense of the work’s tone and themes.

Chapter 1

Reading Check

1. Who does Raina attempt to race on the way to her house?

2. What does Raina’s dentist put on her teeth during the first operation?

3. What creature does Raina say she looks like when she sees her teeth in the mirror after returning to the dentist?

4. Where does Raina’s mother take her after the dentist shows her how her teeth have healed?

Multiple Choice

1. Why does Raina’s mother think that Raina is in shock?

A) She doesn’t get the Girl Scout badge she wanted.

B) She laughs at her reflection after seeing that her two front teeth are damaged.

C) She tells her mom that she doesn’t want to fix her teeth.

D) She is excited to get another shot to prepare for her braces.

2. How does the card from Raina’s teacher make her feel?

A) She feels annoyed that the card says to smile and includes a smiley face.

B) She feels grateful that people care about her.

C) She feels overwhelmed by her classmates’ messages.

D) She feels embarrassed that people know about her accident.

3. What do Raina’s friends say to her when she returns to school?

A) They say she can’t hang out with them anymore because of her teeth.

B) They ask if they can help raise money for her upcoming procedures.

C) They ask her questions about what happened, her medicine, and how she feels.

D) They say that there have been rumors spread about her while she was away.

4. Why does Amara think Raina is “acting like such a jerk lately”?

A) She won’t let Amara play video games with her.

B) She ignores everyone and lays around all day.

C) She tells Amara that she was adopted.

D) She says that Amara can’t take pictures with her anymore.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Raina’s dad encourage her siblings to go back to sleep after telling them about her accident?

2. Who does Raina’s mother call, and what do they tell her to do?

3. How does Raina act when she returns to school?

4. Why does Raina’s mother let her play video games nonstop?

Chapter 2

Reading Check

1. Where is Raina headed at the beginning of Chapter 2?

2. Where does Raina’s dentist’s note say she has to go during school?

3. What does Raina want for her birthday?

4. Who does Raina visit in a different town?

Multiple Choice

1. Why is Raina nervous?

A) She’s worried about what her Girl Scout troop will think about her appearance.

B) She’s concerned that Amara is growing up too fast.

C) She thinks she’s behind her classmates with homework.

D) She doesn’t want to go back to the dentist.

2. How does Raina feel when she gets home from her meeting?

A) She feels relieved that she doesn’t have to go back.

B) She feels like she looks like a baby because a fellow scout said she did.

C) She feels annoyed about having to answer questions about her teeth.

D) She feels excited for the next meeting.

3. Why doesn’t Raina’s mom get Raina what she wants for her birthday?

A) She wants a car, but she’s too young to drive.

B) She wants a dog, but she won’t take responsibility for it.

C) She wants to travel, but she won’t have anyone to go with her.

D) She wants her ears pierced, but piercings can get infected and hurt.

4. Why does Raina say she’s beginning to feel like a real teenager?

A) She got her own phone line and a lock for her door.

B) She got a part-time job and earns her own money.

C) She got braces and her ears pierced.

D) She got a new boyfriend.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. After returning from her Girl Scout meeting, what does Raina ask herself before going to sleep, and how does she answer?

2. Why does Raina say she’s going to look like a nerd?

3. Why does Raina’s friend say she’ll “look normal soon”?

4. What does Raina think about Jane when she visits her?

Chapter 3

Reading Check

1. What does one of Raina’s friends call her in her yearbook?

2. What grade does Raina start in the new school year?

3. Why does Raina’s friend say she’ll smell funny?

4. Who does Raina meet in band, and what is their name?

5. What happens in Chapter 3 that sends Raina and her sister to hide under their dining table?

Multiple Choice

1. What does Raina say she might enjoy under different circumstances?

A) art, if she had a different teacher

B)  her sister’s personality, if they weren’t siblings

C) swimming at the local pool

D) the blackout caused by the earthquake

2. Why is Raina worried that everyone will notice her on the first day of seventh grade?

A) She has gotten pimples and is breaking out.

B) She has to wear her headgear at school.

C) She hasn’t been able to buy new clothes since sixth grade.

D) She has been enrolled in a class for students struggling with their grades.

3. What changes for Raina at the beginning of Chapter 3?

A) She gets a new bike over the summer.

B) She learns that her friend Jane is moving back to town.

C) She gets a new headgear set for her braces.

D) She learns that she is too old to attend Girl Scout meetings.

4. What does Raina think Sammy was trying to do in band class?

A) ask her out

B) find out where she lives

C) get help with his music scales

D) ask about the next day’s homework

5. Why does Raina’s mom say it’s been a strange year for Raina?

A) She knocked out her front teeth, got braces, got her ears pierced, and survived an earthquake.

B) She got her ears pierced, got a dog, started a new school, and learned to drive.

C) She knocked out her front teeth, got braces, learned to swim, and broke her arm.

D) She survived an earthquake, got a boyfriend, showcased her artwork, and spent months helping her grandmother.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What makes Raina tell her mom they should get glasses, a pocket protector, and some Velcro shoes?

2. What does Raina say that someone should start talking about?

3. Why is Raina worried at the beginning of the school year and why does that worry disappear?

4. What does Raina hear her sister do for the first time ever?

Chapter 4

Reading Check

1. What does Raina’s friend call her crush?

2. What does Raina’s endodontist tell her mother?

3. What does Raina watch at the movie theater?

4. What does Raina realize she wants to be when she grows up?

Multiple Choice

1. Why does Raina get her braces removed?

A) because they weren’t working

B) because she needs to make room for her newly healed teeth

C) because they’re too big

D) because her teeth must be pulled

2. What does Raina dream when she is put to sleep?

A) She dreams that she loses her front tooth in a bounce house.

B) She dreams that she won the lottery and can pay for all her dental procedures.

C) She dreams that the tooth fairy miraculously healed her.

D) She dreams that Sammy found her tooth in his musical instrument.

3. What does Raina think she wants for Christmas?

A) more earrings for her pierced ears

B) new art supplies

C) her two front teeth

D) a new video game

4. Why does Raina tell her mom that she looks normal?

A) She gets a haircut like her friends’ haircuts.

B) She gets a retainer that replaces the teeth she had pulled.

C) She gets a new coat that everyone is wearing at school.

D) She finally has a growth spurt and is a normal height.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What do Raina’s friends tease her about at the beginning of Chapter 4, and why?

2. Why does Raina cry at the endodontist’s office?

3. Why does Raina agree to go to the movies with her mom and sister?

4. What questions do Raina’s Girl Scout troop ask about her teeth?

Chapter 5

Reading Check

1. Who does Raina notice after New Year’s?

2. Who does Raina avoid and why?

3. What does the endodontist tell Raina she’s almost ready for?

4. Why does Raina storm away from her friends?

Multiple Choice

1. Why does Raina feel sick?

A) She ate too much candy too fast.

B) She got hot after dancing and didn’t let her food settle.

C) She doesn’t like Sammy anymore and he gives her a gift.

D) She likes Sean and is nervous about seeing him at the dance.

2. Why does Sammy tell Raina, “Just forget it”?

A) He gives her a Valentine’s present and she says she’ll open it later.

B) He doesn’t want to dance with her and worries that she got the wrong idea.

C) He says that he only spoke to her because she was nice to him and he wanted to make her feel better.

D) He says that he just needed help with his musical scales in band class.

3. Why do Raina’s friends say she’s being a baby?

A) She storms away after they call her a nerd and a nobody.

B) She whines about missing Sean at the dance.

C) She whines about avoiding Sammy after the dance.

D) She still plays video games for kids younger than them.

4. What does Raina tell her mom after getting her braces tightened?

A) She wants to eat mashed potatoes.

B) She wants to get ice cream.

C) Her mouth feels weird.

D) It hurts to smile.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does Raina daydream about in class?

2. What do Raina’s friends say she needs at her birthday party?

3. What does Raina’s friend say she needs to learn?

4. What does Raina think about being a teenager?

Chapter 6

Reading Check

1. What does Raina’s mom tell her she needs to start wearing?

2. What does Raina notice about everyone at the beginning of eighth grade?

3. What tryouts does Raina attend?

4. What do Raina’s friends start to do that changes her lunchtime?

Multiple Choice

1. How does Raina’s father react to the results of her tryouts?

A) He’s saddened that she didn’t make the team because he wanted to watch her play.

B) He’s relieved that she didn’t make the team because she could’ve knocked out her teeth again.

C) He doesn’t care either way if she is happy.

D) He hopes she will have another chance to try out and knows she can do better.

2. Why is Raina embarrassed in her class?

A) Her teacher catches her passing notes about Sean.

B) A classmate tells her she has strong body odor.

C) Her friend tells her that she is wearing her shirt inside out.

D) She accidentally burps in front of her crush.

3. What does Raina say “wasn’t that important,” and why?

A) She says her homework wasn’t that important because she was ahead of her class.

B) She says her friends weren’t that important because she was switching schools.

C) She says the boys she liked weren’t that important because they weren’t Sean.

D) She says her braces weren’t that important because they would come off eventually.

4. What does Raina pass on at the end-of-school party, and why?

A) She passes on the pizza because she’s lactose intolerant.

B) She passes on spin the bottle because she wants her first kiss to be meaningful.

C) She passes on playing video games because she wants to talk to boys.

D) She passes on the punch because she doesn’t like the taste.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Raina say she imagines her first kiss?

2. Who does the endodontist say that Raina needs to visit next, and why?

3. Why does Raina pass out?

4. Why does Raina’s mother get angry?

Chapter 7

Reading Check

1. What does Raina say about her friends at graduation?

2. What does the dentist apply to Raina’s teeth?

3. What grade is Raina going into at the beginning of the new school year?

4. What do Raina’s friends say when they see her supplies for her braces?

Multiple Choice

1. Why does Raina leave her friend group?

A) They don’t have anything in common anymore.

B) They can’t find the time to hang out.

C) They prank and humiliate her and laugh at her when she is hurt.

D) They find new friend groups and grow apart.

2. What makes Raina feel like she took away her friends’ power over her?

A) She stood up for herself.

B) She bought better clothes than them.

C) She attends a higher-level class than they do.

D) She dates the boy they all want to be with.

3. What does Raina say she was happy to do?

A) enroll in the school’s art program

B) find a good place to eat lunch

C) get a math tutor

D) take life at her very own pace

4. Who does Raina meet and what do they invite her to do?

A) She meets Sean’s brother, and he invites her to come to their house.

B) She meets her favorite musician, and they invite her onto the stage.

C) She meets Theresa, and she invites Raina to eat lunch with her.

D) She meets Sammy, and he invites her to the high school band.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does Raina keep in her backpack for her mouth care?

2. What does Raina say she’s not going to let her friends do anymore?

3. What does Raina say doesn’t bother her after she “breaks up” with her friends?

4. Who does Raina start hanging out with at the end of Chapter 7?

Chapter 8

Reading Check

1. What does Raina say she forgot about?

2. What news does Raina receive that surprises her?

3. What does Raina think looks weird and why?

4. What do Raina’s new friends say when they see her teeth?

Multiple Choice

1. What does Raina think her mom only says because she’s her mom?

A) that Raina’s teeth will look great once the braces are removed

B) that Raina looks pretty with braces

C) that Raina’s acne doesn’t matter

D) that Raina will appreciate her siblings when she’s older

2. Why does the endodontist give Raina popcorn?

A) to celebrate the removal of her braces

B) to calm her down

C) to provide a snack after she takes her medicine

D) to help her feel better that she still can’t eat apples

3. Why does Raina want to hide her face for a few months?

A) She is embarrassed by her art teacher’s enthusiasm for her work.

B) She found out her mother would be a parent helper at her school.

C) She learned that she had to repeat her grade.

D) She couldn’t get her teeth re-bonded right away after removing her braces.

4. Why does Raina ask her new friends if they notice anything weird about her teeth?

A) She wants to see if they will make fun of her teeth like her old friends did.

B) She wants to know if her friends will tell her the truth about her teeth being pink.

C) She wants to scare them with her new retainer but wants their full attention first.

D) She wants people to pay attention to her teeth as much as she does.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does Raina say about her life after she gets her braces removed?

2. What does Raina say she threw her passion into?

3. What does Raina say she realized?

4. Why does Raina’s mom say, “It’s the end of an era”?

Originally all of these options included the “different circumstances” (i.e., if she had a different teacher, if they weren’t siblings, if swimming didn’t mess up her hair…” except for the correct choice, option D. So I changed option D to “the blackout, if it hadn’t been caused by an earthquake.” However, I don’t think Raina explicitly says she’d enjoy the blackout “if it hadn’t been caused by the earthquake.” So I decided to leave D as is and change option C from “swimming, if it didn’t mess up her hair.” I also considered just leaving the answers as simply: art, her sister’s personality, swimming, and the blackout, but I think the specificity of the choices is helpful in this case.