Brave #[nn]

Svetlana Chmakova's Brave captures the heart of middle-school life with a cover that says it all: a wide-eyed, red-haired boy clutching an armful of books and drawings while comic pages scatter at his feet, flanked by a cool girl with glasses and a tablet and an exuberant girl in a hijab hoisting a recording phone triumphantly in the air. The trio radiates that mix of anxiety and possibility that makes school stories resonate, and Chmakova's warm, expressive linework — familiar to fans of Awkward — gives every character real personality before you've even opened the cover. Published by Yen Press in 2017, this is middle-grade graphic storytelling with genuine charm and heart.