Archives de catégorie : Frankfurt 2022 Children’s Books

GRAND SLAM ROMANCE de Ollie Hicks & Emma Oosterhous

A queer graphic novel where the balls are fast, the smooches are spicy, and the girls . . . magical.

GRAND SLAM ROMANCE
Book 1
by Ollie Hicks & Emma Oosterhous
Abrams ComicArts, May 2023

In this queer graphic novel that’s equal parts romance, softball, and magical girl drama, Mickey Monsoon and Astra Maxima are best friends . . . and maybe more. That is, until Astra unceremoniously dumps Mickey to become a softball wunderkind at a private girl’s school in Switzerland. Years later, Mickey is the hotshot pitcher for the Belle City Broads, and their team is poised to sweep the league this season. But Micky is thrown off their game when Astra shows up to catch for the Gaiety Gals, the Broads’ fiercest rival. Astra is flirty, arrogant, and reckless on the field—everything the rule-abiding Mickey hates.
Astra thinks Mickey’s cute and wants to fool around, even despite their rocky history and the trail of jilted softballers that Astra leaves in her wake. Too bad the only thing Mickey wants is vengeance for their broken heart and wounded pride! But even they have to admit—Astra is a certified babe. And that’s not all: Astra isn’t just a softball superstar, she’s a full-fledged magical girl.
The only way for Mickey to defeat Astra is to betray the Broads and join the Danger Dames, a secret elite team, and start dating Astra’s ex! OK, that last bit wasn’t part of the plan . . . Mickey’s rapidly getting in too deep, but is she just in trouble or is she actually in love? Full of wet mitts, hard hits, and a bevy of softball-playing babes, Grand Slam Romance: Book 1 is a flawless home run that is sure to knock readers out of the park.

Ollie Hicks is a Black British comics creator and editor who lives in the UK and has Jamaican heritage. They have a PhD in comics studies—focused on 20th-century British and American girls’ comics—from the University of Dundee, which is gently gathering dust. They like to write funny gay stories with their funny gay wife, Emma Oosterhous. Grand Slam Romance is their debut graphic novel.
Emma Oosterhous is a cartoonist, animal enthusiast, and lesbian from Colorado. In 2018, she earned a Marshall Scholarship and then an MDes in comics and graphic novels from the University of Dundee. She now lives in the UK, where she makes comics with her wife, Ollie Hicks. Grand Slam Romance is her debut graphic novel

WOLFWOOD de Marianna Baer

A teenage girl begins secretly forging paintings, plunging her into a dark and dangerous imaginary world.

WOLFWOOD
by Marianna Baer
Amulet Books/Abrams, March 2023

Indigo and her mother, once-famous artist Zoe Serra, have barely been scraping by since her mom’s breakdown. When a gallery offers Zoe a revival show for her unfinished blockbuster series, Wolfwood, Indigo knows it’s a crucial chance to finally regain stability. Zoe, however, mysteriously refuses. Desperate not to lose the opportunity, Indigo secretly takes up the brush herself.
It turns out, there might be a very good reason her mother wants nothing to do with Wolfwood.
Painting submerges Indigo into Wolfwood itself—a dangerous jungle where an army of grotesque, monstrous flora are in a violent battle with a band of girls. As Indigo enters Wolfwood again and again, the line between fantasy and reality blurs. It’s a tenuous balancing act: keeping her forgery secret and her mind lucid, all while fighting her attraction to Kai, the son of the gallery owner.
And by the time Indigo realizes the true nature of the monsters she’s up against, it might be too late—and the monsters might just win

Marianna Baer is the author of The Inconceivable Life of Quinn, which Publishers Weekly called « a delicate, complicated, and engrossing exploration of the collision between real life and the inexplicable » in a starred review. She’s a graduate of Vermont College of Fine Arts with an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

THE MIGHTY BITE de Nathan Hale

From the cartoonist behind Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales comes a wacky new graphic novel series!

THE MIGHTY BITE
by Nathan Hale
Amulet Books/Abrams, April 2023

What happens when a couple of prehistoric creatures want to become internet stars? Trilobite and Amber (a walking whale) dream of fame and fortune. They don’t realize that most of the world thinks that they’re extinct. When a wandering paleo-newscaster introduces them to the world of internet videos, they hop at the chance to get behind the camera. The competition for internet fame will be fierce—Trilobite and Amber will face off against ancient sea creatures, talking cacti, floating cat heads, and more! Friendships will be tested, allies will be made, and cameras will be smashed! Our heroes will have to use all of their newfound skills when they find themselves competing in an all out video-making battle royale!
With laugh-out-loud gags and outrageous, elaborate artwork, fans of Dog Man and InvestiGators have never seen anything like Nathan Hale’s THE MIGHTY BITE!

Nathan Hale is the #1 New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of the Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales series. He also wrote and illustrated the graphic novels One Trick Pony and Apocalypse Taco. He lives in Utah.

THE FLYING HORSE de Sarah Maslin Nir & Laylie Frazier

From author of the memoir Horse Crazy, the first in a series of fictional middle-grade novels inspired by real horses and the people who love them.

THE FLYING HORSE
(Once Upon a Horse Book 1)
by Sarah Maslin Nir
illustrated by Laylie Frazier
Cameron Kids/Abrams, March 2023

Trendsetter is a horse destined to fly—in more ways than one. Sarah is a horse-loving seventh grader who has a secret and a fear of losing the one thing she loves most in the world. Separated by an ocean, a horse and a girl’s parallel struggles to be their best include lots of luck and grit, some stubbornness, and a few failures. It is only when they find each other that the two kindred spirits find themselves. Together they learn that what’s important in life isn’t greatness—it’s being great at being you. Inspired by a real horse and a real girl, THE FLYING HORSE will make horse-lovers’ hearts soar.

Sarah Maslin Nir is a Pulitzer Prize–nominated New York Times reporter and the author of Horse Crazy: The Story of a Woman and a World in Love with an Animal. This is her first book with Cameron Kids.
Laylie Frazier is a fine artist and illustrator inspired by the natural world. And while she doesn’t ride horses, she loves to illustrate them. Frazier lives in Houston, Texas.

BATCAT de Meggie Ramm

A new graphic novel series for emerging readers about accepting yourself and others, from up-and-coming author-illustrator Meggie Ramm.

BATCAT #1
by Meggie Ramm
Amulet/Abrams, March 2023

Batcat loves being all alone in their home on Spooky Island. Up in their tree house, they pass the time playing video games and watching TV. But when Batcat suddenly finds themself haunted by an annoying, ice cream–stealing ghost, they visit the local Island Witch for a spell to remove their ghastly guest permanently!
With their Ghost-B-Gone spell in hand, Batcat travels across Spooky Island to gather ingredients—to the Cavernous Caves where the bats tell them they’re too round to be a bat, and to the Whispering Cemetery where the cats will help only if they commit to being a true cat. But Batcat is neither and that’s what makes them special, right?
From up-and-coming author Meggie Ramm comes a sweet and fun story about accepting yourself when you’re perfectly in-between here and there.

Meggie Ramm is a non-binary cartoonist from Michigan. They spent their twenties teaching comics to kids in Oakland, California, and it was the best job in the whole world. They’ve had work in the New Yorker, Everyday Feminism, and Silver Sprocket, and have a limerick-based comic strip called The Littlest Dungeon Guard distributed through Sunday HaHa. They love rhymes, reading gay sci-fi and fantasy, and comics.