Welcome to the Shelf Care Interview, an occasional conversation series where Booklist talks to book people. This Shelf Care Interview is sponsored by Yen Press.
Svetlana Chmakova was born and raised in Russia until the age of 16 when her family immigrated to Canada. She quickly made a name for herself with works like DRAMACON, NIGHTSCHOOL, the manga adaptation of James Patterson's WITCH & WIZARD, and the web comic CHASING RAINBOWS. She graduated from Sheridan College with a three-year Classical Animation Diploma. The first book in the Berrybrook Middle School series, AWKWARD, has been a runaway critical success and was named one of YALSA's 2016 Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens.