Raina Telgemeier's Reading List

"I won't stop yelling about Gene Luen Yang's graphic novel "Dragon Hoops." Gene is a master of the visual craft, weaving history and sports culture and nerddom and meta-commentary together into a work unlike anything else."

"Kiyohiko Azuma, the creator of my favorite manga, "Yotsuba&!," has been writing an ongoing series about … not much of anything, just a kid and her dad and their neighbors, for over a decade. It's brilliant."

""Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me" (illustrated by Rosemary Valero-O'Connell) and "Pumpkinheads" (illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks) are respective favorites."

""Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me" (illustrated by Rosemary Valero-O'Connell) and "Pumpkinheads" (illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks) are respective favorites."

"Keiji Nakazawa's "Barefoot Gen" … were pivotal in teaching me the power of the comics medium. The story centers on a family caught in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945 — a heartbreaking read, but one that allowed the world to open up in my young mind."

"John Green's "Turtles All the Way Down" broke me completely in half; to be able to inhabit Aza's brain, and understand the color and texture and dialogue of her anxiety, was powerfully affirming."

""Duck, Death and the Tulip," by Wolf Erlbruch. It's a picture book about a duck and the specter of death, having a conversation. My friend brought it over to my house and I read it on the spot, and was completely caught off guard by how spare and sad and lovely it was."

"Another early favorite was "In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson." My mom loved to read whatever I was reading, and we made lots of time to discuss."