Saturday April 26, local cartoonists Aron Steinke and Jonathan Hill will read from their new middle grade graphic novels, Speechless and Lizard Boy 2.
About Speechless:
From Eisner Award-winning author Aron Nels Steinke comes a heartfelt and funny middle-grade graphic novel about friendship, anxiety, and expressing yourself. Middle school was supposed to be a fresh start for Mira, who struggles to speak in class even though she can speak at home without a problem. Her former best friend, Chloe, has become her worst enemy, and Mira’s only solace is making videos for her secret stop-motion animation channel. But when Chloe’s mom has to travel for a family emergency, Mira is horrified to learn that her family has volunteered to let Chloe stay with them. When it feels like everything is going wrong, will Mira ever find her voice?
About Lizard Boy 2: The Most Perfect Summer Ever:
In human disguise, the Lizk’t family of Elberon is now comfortably settled in Eagle Valley as the all-American Tomkins family. While his older sister is madly in love with her job and her perfect human boyfriend, Tommy Tomkins has new friends who understand what it means to be an outsider, especially Dung, whose family immigrated to America. When they find a treehouse in the woods, it seems like the perfect space where they can all be themselves—whether a Sasquatch, a girl made of snakes, or a robot from the future. And when they learn that Dung’s family will soon return to Vietnam, the friends vow to have the Most Perfect Summer Ever in his honor. But when Tommy’s face, the real one, turns up in an episode of Eagle Valley Paranormal, the hidden truth threatens to emerge, and a not-so-perfect Eagle Valley summer becomes a chance for a lizard boy to shine. Jonathan Hill’s graphic series captures the nuances of middle-grade life with energy, insight, and ample comic relief, proving that a united front—and sharing origin stories to keep the past alive—are a timeless antidote to intolerance.
WHO: Aron Nels Steinke and Jonathan Hill
WHAT: Book reading and author discussion
WHEN: Saturday April 26, 4pm
WHERE: Floating World Comics, 1223 Lloyd Center
