Svetlana Chmakova books

Anthologies

Berrybrook Middle School Reading Order

Dramacon Reading Order

Nightschool: The Weirn Reading Order

The Weirn Reading Order

Witch & Wizard Graphic Novels Reading Order

Svetlana Chmakova grew up in Russia and developed a passion for manga and sequential art that shaped her entire career. She began publishing in the mid-2000s with Dramacon, a romantic comedy set at anime conventions that drew on her experience as a fan and creator. The series established her signature style: expressive character art, tight emotional pacing, and a knack for capturing the awkward in-between feelings of youth.

Her Berrybrook Middle School series, which kicked off with Awkward in 2015, brought her the widest readership she has had to date. Each book follows a different student at the same school, exploring themes like social anxiety, courage, first crushes, and belonging. The books are told with a light touch and a genuine warmth that avoids talking down to its readers, which is a large part of why they have become staples of elementary and middle school libraries across North America.

Beyond Berrybrook, Chmakova has worked in supernatural fantasy with the Nightschool series and its companion The Weirn Books, both set in worlds where magic and danger lurk just beneath the surface of ordinary life. She also contributed to Flight, a prestige anthology that helped bring alternative graphic storytelling to a mainstream American audience during the 2000s.