From Powells.com
Hot new releases and under-the-radar gems for adults and kids.
Staff Pick
A magnificent middle reader graphic novel retelling worthy of the source material. The great hall? A great treehouse. Our heroes? Kid-conquerors of suburbia. Our monster? A joyless adult. Like the old epic, I was hooked from the first poetic kenning. Recommended By Sarah R., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
A modern middle-grade graphic novel retelling of Beowulf, featuring a gang of troublemaking kids who must defend their tree house from a fun-hating adult who can instantly turn children into grown-ups.
Listen! Hear a tale of mallow-munchers and warriors who answer candy's clarion call!
Somewhere in a generic suburb stands Treeheart, a kid-forged sanctuary where generations of tireless tykes have spent their youths making merry, spilling soda, and staving off the shadow of adulthood. One day, these brave warriors find their fun cut short by their nefarious neighbor Grindle, who can no longer tolerate the sounds of mirth seeping into his joyless adult life.
As the guardian of gloom lays siege to Treeheart, scores of kids suddenly find themselves transformed into pimply teenagers and sullen adults! The survivors of the onslaught cry out for a savior — a warrior whose will is unbreakable and whose appetite for mischief is unbounded.
They call for Bea Wolf.
Review
"It's Seuss and Dahl's mutant offspring, gorgeous and darkly witty." Mary Roach, New York Times-bestselling author of Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law
Review
"The story that inspired J.R.R. Tolkien and entranced Seamus Heaney has now been reworked with vivid illustrations, heroic kids, and extra Fudgsicles. The result is the most delightful, inventive, joyful epic ever created. I simply can't express how much I love Bea Wolf." Tim Harford, host of Cautionary Tales
Review
"As haunting, hilarious and perplexing as the ancient stories one hears around the campfire, castle or cafeteria." Lemony Snicket
Review
"Bea Wolf is
a) Beowulf retold for kids;
b) a genuinely funny story in its own right;
c) a pretty much perfect melding of words and the most charming illustrations in an alliterative romp through the oldest surviving English poem, served fresh and fabulous; and
d) glorious, accurate, profoundly silly, and hilariously profound." Neil Gaiman
About the Author
Zach Weinersmith is the creator of the popular webcomic
SMBC, the creator of the nerd comedy show BAHFest, and the co-author of the
New York Times bestselling popular science book,
Soonish. He is the artist of First Second's
Open Borders and the writer of
Bea Wolf, a modern comedic retelling of the classic
Beowulf epic.
Boulet was born and raised in France where he studied art in Dijon and Strasbourg. He started working in comics in the early 2000s and published a dozen books for young readers before creating bouletcorp.com, his worldwide-renowned website which got adapted in a series of 11 best-selling comic books.
He also worked on the critically acclaimed French series Dungeon with Lewis Trondheim and Joann Sfar. His new sci-fi series Bolchoi Arena has already been nominated twice at the Angouleme International Comic Festival.
In addition, Boulet is the artist of Bea Wolf, a modern comedic retelling of the classic Beowulf epic written by Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal creator Zach Weinersmith.
He currently lives in Paris, working in comics, illustration and animation.