The worlds of fairies, ogres, and magic are set to collide in Maverick’s new graphic novel The October Girl: Book One, and we’ve got your exclusive first look and details! Fans of coming-of-age stories like Nimona and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will love The October Girl, which is written and illustrated by Matthew Dow Smith, and is set to hit bookstores this October. You can check out the new graphic novel‘s full cover below.
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The October Girl: Book One follows Autumn Ackerman, who grew up believing in magic, fairies, and princesses battling dragons, but is now faced with the much less epic reality of working in her local coffee shop. That all changes though when she meets her imaginary childhood friend Barnaby, who introduces her to the world of the Night Folk.
The Night Folk are fantastical creatures based on humanity’s ancient myths of gods and monsters. Autumn soon discovers that there’s far more to her world than what she’s known, and she will need to figure out how her own past is connected to the Night Folk while also avoiding the deadly Mr. Balloon. The good news is she’ll have help from Barnaby and a new ally Evan Fade.
“The October Girl is a very special project for me. It’s a story I’ve wanted to tell for more than 30 years, and now, thanks to Mad Cave/Maverick, I finally can,” Smith said. “I’ve spent the last 30 years drawing people in tights fighting each other, and as much fun as that can be, my head was full of people in long coats and skeleton trees and strange little creatures. There just wasn’t a place for the kinds of stories I wanted to tell. But now, with a growing audience for comics outside of tights and capes, I could finally let all these things out of my head.”
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“For me, the most important thing about this book was to capture that feeling of being young and looking at the future stretched out ahead of you and the world you’re growing into and wondering if this is all there is,” Smith said. “I’ve been a reader and a dreamer all my life and I often find myself wishing our world was as magical and full of wonder as the worlds in the books I read. This book asks the question, ‘Well, what if it was?’”
“The October Girl is a unique, modern take on fairy tales–who hasn’t hoped to be a secret witch or princess in their lifetime? Our main character Autumn uncovers a magical lineage, but this revelation seems to bring nothing but trouble with it!” said the book’s editor, Christina Harrington. “Autumn will appeal to YA readers of all ages who love a scrappy, underdog hero getting by in a world just like ours….but with a magical, dangerous veneer to it.”
The October Girl: Book One will land in stores on October 21st, and you can find the official description below.
“Autumn Ackerman grew up believing in fairies and magic and princesses who defeated dragons, but now that she’s eighteen and facing a future stuck behind the counter of her small town’s coffee shop, she’s starting to wonder if this is all there really is to her life. But then she meets her childhood imaginary friend, Barnaby, in the alley behind the coffee shop one night. Autumn’s entire world is turned upside down.
Drawn into the strange and mysterious world of the Night Folk, fantastic creatures that inspired all of humanity’s myths about gods and monsters, Autumn is about to discover that there is more to her world than she ever dreamed of as a little girl, and that world is far more dangerous than she could ever have imagined. With the help of Barnaby and Evan Fade, the tragic young boy who inherited the local bookstore, Autumn has to protect herself from the coldly terrifying Mr. Balloon long enough to discover the truth about the Night Folk and her own past.”
What do you think of The October Girl: Book One? Let us know in the comments, and you can talk all things comics and graphic novels with me on Bluesky @knightofoa!
