In 2014 alone, Raina Telgemeier’s graphic novels grossed over $4.6 million, easily outpacing every comics creator not named Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead). This is no small feat; when it comes to kids’ comic sales, the cartoonist, whose works also include Smile and Drama, is leading the pack. However, in spite of her triumphs in the comic book market and with critics and audiences alike, the comics world still tends to be a bit insular; Telgemeier and other successful non-DC/Marvel comics creators are often left out of important conversations about the state of modern comics. Which is a shame, really, given that Telgemeier’s success is no fluke. Sisters only solidifies what readers already know — Telgemeier’s comics are fun, sweet, and hard to put down.

Sisters is an autobiography centered around Telgemeier’s relationship with her little sister, Amara. Young Raina is ecstatic to be an older sister…until Amara arrives and puts an end to her perfect sibling fantasies. Sisters manages to be universal and specific all at once — their dynamic is easy for any sister, be it older or younger, to identify with, and Telgemeier is able to bring Raina and Amara’s distinctive personalities alive through her accessible writing style and cartoon-y artwork. The story oscillates between funny and bittersweet with ease, and it’s refreshing in it’s honesty. Raina is never a saint, and Amara is more complex than one might expect. And Telgemeier does a great job at tying the sisters’ difficult relationship together with the rising tension between her parents. Sisters is a comic worth reading, writing, AND talking about.

Three starred reviews (so far) can’t be wrong: Kelly Barnhill’s latest middle grade is as transcendent as The Witch’s Boy, and it absolutely drips with magic. The Girl Who Drank the Moon follows Luna, a young girl “enmagicked” by moonlight, as she searches for answers to the questions of her mysterious life—answers that span the history of not only her family, or her village, but of all of time itself.

Luna’s world, from the City of Sorrows she was born in to the volcanic forest she now lives in, is populated by creatures of all sorts: tiny, noble dragons; clever, evil priestesses; and poetic, gentle swamp monsters, to name a few. She has no idea that she was sacrificed by a corrupt Council Elder as a baby, or that hidden inside her is a dangerous amount of moonlight magic; she only cares for her Grandmama, the witch who saved her life years ago, and her forest friends. But when her latent magic erupts, it leads her across the paths of people she’s only seen in her dreams—people like her long-lost mother.

The interlocking storylines of Luna, her crazed-with-grief mother, and the junior Council member who’d seen her wrongfully taken from her family as a baby, combine to form a truly remarkable mechanism, one that seems to run on its own, powered by magic. The read is breathless and quick, but in signature Barnhill style, you’ll have to stop every few pages to admire a lush turn of phrase. Though lofty, The Girl Who Drank the Moon is in many ways a classic coming of age story—and a perfect example of not underestimating middle grade readers.