Please note, that we will be reading books both for learning craft as well as for inspiration. Books below are sorted by purpose, and loosely listed in the order we will be reading them. Most of these books are readily available from the library.

Those denoted with a * are to be used in the first two weeks and will be referenced multiple times this semester.

This reading list is subject to CLASS VOICE. Advocate for the books you want to be sure we read as a group!

I’ve added a list of suggested alternates at the bottom should they be of particular interest to the class.

BOOKS ON CRAFT

*Understanding Comics – Scott McCloud (PDF available )

*Cartooning Philosophy and Practice – Ivan Brunetti (PDF available )

*Making Comics – Lynda Barry (we will read excerpts that will be available on this site – but it’s a great book if you want your own copy!)

*Field Guide to Graphic Literature – edited by Kelcey Ervick and Tom Hart, Rose Metal Press (we will read excerpts that will be available on this site – but it’s a great book if you want your own copy!)

Drawing Comics – Robyn Chapman (PDF available )

Writing in Pictures, Drawing in Words – Jessica Abel (PDF available )

The Art of The Storyboard – Don Bluth (PDF available) 

BOOKS TO INSPIRE US

WEEK 1

Dear Sophie, Love Sophie – Sophie Lucido Johnson, Harper Collins (Ebook available)

WEEK 2

The Realist – Asaf Hanuka, Simon & Schuster (Ebook available)

WEEK 3

Lighter than my Shadow – Katie Green, ONI press

WEEK 4

Smile – Raina Teigelmeier

WEEK 5

NONE

WEEK 6

El Deafo – CeCe Bell

WEEK 7

A Child’s Life and Other Stories – Phoebe Gloeckner, Frog Books

WEEK 8

Hey Kiddo – Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Scholastic Graphix

WEEK 9

Stitches – David Small, W. W. Norton & Company

*Week 10 *

Blam! Black Lives Always Mattered!: Hidden African American Philadelphia of the Twentieth Century – Produced by the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection with the support of the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. 

Week 11

The  Magic Fish – Trung Le Nguyen, Penguin Random House

The Arrival – Shawn Tan, ‎Arthur A. Levine Books

WEEK 12

American Born Chinese – Gene Luen Yang, First Second Books

*WEEK 13*

Almost American  Girl – Robin Ha

WEEK 14

Gender Queer – Maia Kobabe, ONI press

WEEK 15

When Stars are Scattered- by Victoria Jamieson, Omar Mohamed, Dial Books

Alternates:

March – John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell, TOP SHELF

Commute – Erin Williams ABRAMS

Ronan and the Endless Sea of Stars – Rick Louis, Lara Antal, ABRAMS

Honor Girl – Maggie Thrash, Candlewick

**MAUS – Art Spiegelman**