If you’ve got a not-so-little one going through the chamber of horrors known as middle school, it is imperative that you buy her this comics anthology. Daniel Clowes, Lauren Weinstein, and Gabrielle Bell share their post-grade-school horror stories; imagine what they went through as future comic-book artists. Aaron Renier’s Simple Machines, excerpted earlier this month on Vulture, not only tells kids they’re not alone, it also gives hope of escape.
Simple Machines
By Aaron Renier, Viking, $18.99.