Dear Mothman is out in the U.S today!! A middle grade novel written beautifully in verse by Robin Gow. The cover was created by Tracy J. Lee and the inside illustrations are by me.
Published by Abrams
At the time I was really booked up with work and thought I wouldn’t be able to fit this in but as soon as I read Robin’s moving story I knew I just had to do it somehow. It’s such a gorgeous novel, I got a little obsessed with it. Written in verse in the form of a journal a young trans boy deals with the loss of his close friend Lewis and finds comfort in writing to the cryptid Mothman in this journal. It’s a very hopeful story and we follow the main character Noah as he finds his way through this difficult time with a little help from some new friends and the special cryptid🖤
My challenge was to make a number of drawings from the perspective of the 2 young trans boys Noah and Lewis. I had to really think about this and try and stop my adult self getting in the way of the style.
Also I made several more realistic drawings of items and photographs that Noah had slotted into his journal.
Shout out also to Tracy J Lee’s lovely cover art and Deena at @abramskids who was so easy to work with and allowed me to make some creased paper suggestions in the book.
This moving novel explores grief, friendship and gender identity and has magic and secrecy woven throughout, describing childhood perfectly. You all really need to read this gorgeous book!!
