A Map to the Sun

A Map to the Sun is a gripping YA graphic novel about five principle players in a struggling girls' basketball team.

One summer day, Ren meets Luna at a beachside basketball court and a friendship is born. But when Luna moves to back to Oahu, Ren's messages to her friend go unanswered.

Years go by. Then Luna returns, hoping to rekindle their friendship. Ren is hesitant. She's dealing with a lot, including family troubles, dropping grades, and the newly formed women's basketball team at their high school.

With Ren's new friends and Luna all on the basketball team, the lines between their lives on and off the court begin to blur. During their first season, this diverse and endearing group of teens are challenged in ways that make them reevaluate just who and how they trust.

Sloane Leong's evocative storytelling about the lives of these young women is an ode to the dynamic nature of friendship.

"Leong elevates the classic ragtag-sports-team narrative by giving her characters grit and gravitas, and rendering their world of malls, convenience stores, and slumping apartment buildings in brilliant reds and purples." Publisher's Week

"Extraordinary tension is created just through Leong’s use of color, which shifts between unexpected and often intense color schemes that infuse skin color, backgrounds, and even the gutters with raw emotion." Booklist

"The pages’ shifting layout maintains a dynamic pace while the artwork conveys the intense—often conflicting—emotions inherent to adolescence and young adulthood. Leong concludes with a tribute to the inner light of her characters and to the power of friendship." Kirkus

Sloane Leong is a self-taught cartoonist, artist and writer of Hawaiian, Chinese, Italian, Mexican, Native American, and European ancestries. Her work aims to connect personally with individuals through storytelling and to cultivate a kinder, more understanding future. She has been self-publishing her own comics since she was sixteen and has done various work for companies like Image Comics, First Second, Top Cow, Cartoon Network, DC, Dark Horse, Boom!, Namco, and BuzzFeed. She is currently living near Portland, Oregon.