Barefoot Gen: A Cartoon Story of Hiroshima #5

Keiji Nakazawa's unflinching autobiographical manga series continues with this fifth volume, subtitled "The Never-Ending War." The cover, drawn and inked by Nakazawa himself, places two young boys — one in a blue cap, the other in a yellow-and-green checked hat — pressed together against a tree trunk in the rain, their expressions a mix of wariness and quiet resolve. It's a quietly powerful image that captures the determined spirit at the heart of this acclaimed series about survival and humanity in the aftermath of Hiroshima.