A Kirkus Best Book of the Year

In this first volume of a thrilling middle grade graphic novel series, a sixth-grader named Pablo discovers his locker is a portal to the realm of monsters!

For hundreds of years, something in the basement of Glenfield Middle School has waited for its chance to open a portal into the realm of monsters. Now its time has come, and the school is going to need a hero. Pablo Ortiz . . . isn't that guy. All he wants to do is lie low and get through middle school in one piece. So when Pablo accidentally opens the portal and summons a vengeful Aztec goddess, he'll need the butt-kicking skills of his new friends and the wisdom passed down by his abuela to take her on.

A Kirkus Best Book of the Year

In this first volume of a thrilling middle grade graphic novel series, a sixth-grader named Pablo discovers his locker is a portal to the realm of monsters!

For hundreds of years, something in the basement of Glenfield Middle School has waited for its chance to open a portal into the realm of monsters. Now its time has come, and the school is going to need a hero. Pablo Ortiz . . . isn't that guy. All he wants to do is lie low and get through middle school in one piece. So when Pablo accidentally opens the portal and summons a vengeful Aztec goddess, he'll need the butt-kicking skills of his new friends and the wisdom passed down by his abuela to take her on.

A Kirkus Best Book of the Year
A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
A Booklist Best Book of the Year

Ignacio Iggy Garcia is an Ohio-born Colombian American teen living his best life. After bumping into Marisol (and her coffee) at school, Iggy's world is spun around. But Marisol has too much going on to be bothered with the likes of Iggy. She has school, work, family, and the uphill battle of getting her legal papers. As Iggy stresses over how to get Marisol to like him, his grandfather comes to the rescue. The thing is, not only is his abuelito dead, but he also gives terrible love advice. The worst. And so, with his ghost abuelito's meddling, Iggy's life begins to unravel as he sets off on a journey of self-discovery.

Call me Iggy tells the story of Iggy searching for his place in his family, his school, his community, and ultimately--as the political climate in America changes during the 2016 election--his country. Focusing on familial ties and budding love, Call me Iggy challenges our assumptions about Latino-American identity while reaffirming our belief in the hope that all young people represent. Perfect for lovers of multigenerational stories like Displacement and The Magic Fish.

The Spanish edition of Call Me Iggy, a young adult graphic novel about a Colombian American teen who gets help from his grandfather's ghost to win over his crush.

Iggy lo tenía todo tan fácil.

Ignacio Iggy García es un adolescente Colombiano-Americano nacido en Ohio que vive encantado de la vida. Su mundo da un gran giro luego de tropezar con Marisol (y su cafecito) en la escuela, Entre la escuela, el trabajo, su familia y una batalla cada vez más difícil para conseguir sus documentos de residencia permanente, Marisol anda muy ocupada para fijarse siquiera en Iggy.

Mientras Iggy se estresa por ver cómo hacer para que Marisol se interese en él, su abuelo viene a socorrerlo. Pero, no solo está muerto su abuelo, sino que además él le da pésimos consejos de amor. Los peores. Con su abuelo entrometiendose, la vida de Iggy empieza empieza a desmoronarse mientras él toma un nuevo camino de autodescubrimiento.
_________

Iggy had it so easy.

Ignacio Iggy Garcia is an Ohio-born Colombian American teen living his best life. After bumping into Marisol (and her coffee) at school, Iggy's world is spun around. But Marisol has too much going on to be bothered with the likes of Iggy. She has school, work, family, and the uphill battle of getting her legal papers.

As Iggy stresses over how to get Marisol to like him, his grandfather comes to the rescue. The thing is, not only is his abuelito dead, but he also gives terrible love advice. The worst. And so, with his ghost abuelito's meddling, Iggy's life begins to unravel as he sets off on a journey of self-discovery.

A Kirkus Best Book of the Year
A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
A Booklist Best Book of the Year

Ignacio Iggy Garcia is an Ohio-born Colombian American teen living his best life. After bumping into Marisol (and her coffee) at school, Iggy's world is spun around. But Marisol has too much going on to be bothered with the likes of Iggy. She has school, work, family, and the uphill battle of getting her legal papers. As Iggy stresses over how to get Marisol to like him, his grandfather comes to the rescue. The thing is, not only is his abuelito dead, but he also gives terrible love advice. The worst. And so, with his ghost abuelito's meddling, Iggy's life begins to unravel as he sets off on a journey of self-discovery.

Call me Iggy tells the story of Iggy searching for his place in his family, his school, his community, and ultimately--as the political climate in America changes during the 2016 election--his country. Focusing on familial ties and budding love, Call me Iggy challenges our assumptions about Latino-American identity while reaffirming our belief in the hope that all young people represent. Perfect for lovers of multigenerational stories like Displacement and The Magic Fish.

Claudette's fondest wish is to slay a giant.But her village is so safe and quiet What's a future giant slayer to do?

With her best friend Marie (an aspiring princess), and her brother Gaston (a pastry-chef-to-be), Claudette embarks on a super-secret quest to find a giant--without parental permission. Can they find and defeat the giant before their parents find them and drag them back home? Giants Beware offers up a wondrous, self-contained world in the tradition of the very best of Pixar. Claudette and her friends will have you laughing out loud from page one. Giants Beware Author Q&A

What was your inspiration for the book?

Rafael: I'm not entirely sure. I recently went through some old sketchbooks of mine and realized that I'd been drawing a character that looked kind of like our main character, Claudette, years before we even began the book. I guess I've had this character of this girl with a lot of spunk in my subconscious for a while. I'm also really into French comics and that influenced the look quite bit.

Which character do you identify with and why?

Rafael: I'm not impulsive like Claudette. I'm probably most like Gaston. He thinks before taking the leap. He worries a lot. That's probably more like me.

Jorge: I wish I could say I was like Marie. Marie doesn't care what other people think of her. In this book, she aspires to be a princess and other kids make fun of her, but she doesn't pay them any attention. She's very confident and smart. I wish I were more like her. I also wish I were like Claudette. She's brave, reckless, and impulsive. But I'm not like her either. Like Rafael, I'm probably most like Gaston. I'm a little nervous and I love sweets.

How did your partnership begin?

Jorge: We've known each other since we were both in film school at the Ohio State University in Columbus. I was in a writing class at OSU, and of all the bad scripts in class, mine was one of the least bad scripts, and so it was chosen to be produced with Rafael as the director. We spent a good month or so filming a very bad film together. That is how we became friends.

Rafael: Fast forward years later to Columbus, Ohio circa 2007. We were at John Novak's house (our colorist and a mutual friend). I told Jorge about these characters I had bouncing around in my head and a story about a giant. I went off and wrote and drew up the ideas I had so far. I gave them to Jorge, and told him to run with it. And he ran.

How did you draw the book? How did you write the book?

Rafael: I drew the whole thing in Photoshop, on a Wacon Cintiq (a tablet-monitor). I like drawing digitally because it gives me a lot of flexibly down the line for edits and moving things around. John Novak and Matthew Schenk colored the book. We used a DropBox to move files around between John Novak and Matthew Schenk (color), Jorge, and me. Jorge and I would meet every once in awhile either in person in Columbus or via video chatting to go over pages and notes.

Jorge: I used Scrivener to collect all my notes, and Final Draft to write the script. I lettered the book in Illustrator, which gave me the chance to do one last rewrite. I'm always rewriting, and I always tried not to send any script pages to Rafael until they were fully baked or else he'd start drawing right away.

What's up with Claudette's dad?

Do you mean like why is he missing his legs and an arm? Well, he fought a battle against a terrible dragon and lost. You always hear about these great warriors who slay dragons. Well, Augustine is a great warrior who had a very bad day. And now his favorite sword is sitting in the belly of Azra the dragon. But that's a story for another day.

What happens when a mischievous nine-tailed fox goes toe-to-toe with a colossal golem? What happens when Japanese and Jewish folklore collide? Pablo and his friends are about to find out, in this hilarious and action-packed graphic novel.

After their face-off with an angry Aztec earth goddess, Pablo, Maggie, and Takashi are living it up as their school's resident monster-banishing trio. (It turns out that fighting drooling trolls and vicious kelpies gets you invited to all the best parties.) Lately, though, monsters are the least of Takashi's problems. Wrestling with his parents' divorce, his father's impossibly high expectations, and his multicultural identity, he decides to summon a helpful monster: a shapeshifting nine-tailed fox called Kitsune.

The charming Kitsune gets straight to work solving problems for Takashi and his classmates, and before long, the entire school is under his spell. As the situation spirals out of control, Pablo and Maggie turn to an unexpected source to rescue their best friend. But is summoning a second monster a brilliant plan, or a recipe for disaster?

What happens when a mischievous nine-tailed fox goes toe-to-toe with a colossal golem? What happens when Japanese and Jewish folklore collide? Pablo and his friends are about to find out, in this hilarious and action-packed graphic novel.

After their face-off with an angry Aztec earth goddess, Pablo, Maggie, and Takashi are living it up as their school's resident monster-banishing trio. (It turns out that fighting drooling trolls and vicious kelpies gets you invited to all the best parties.) Lately, though, monsters are the least of Takashi's problems. Wrestling with his parents' divorce, his father's impossibly high expectations, and his multicultural identity, he decides to summon a helpful monster: a shapeshifting nine-tailed fox called Kitsune.

The charming Kitsune gets straight to work solving problems for Takashi and his classmates, and before long, the entire school is under his spell. As the situation spirals out of control, Pablo and Maggie turn to an unexpected source to rescue their best friend. But is summoning a second monster a brilliant plan, or a recipe for disaster?