{Review/Giveaway} TWELFTH GRADE NIGHT by Molly Horton Booth and Stephanie Kate Strohm, with illustrations by Jamie Green



 &

Love fairy tales and mythology?
Fans of mermaids, dragons, unicorns, and other mythical creatures?
Enjoy when a beloved classic tale is retold?
A Twist in the Tail Thursdays features all this and more!


O P E N I N G   H O O K:






(Pages 1-5, UShardcover edition
©Copyright Molly Horton Booth, Stephanie Kate Strohm, Jamie Green for Disney Hyperion)



When I heard a new graphic novel series hitting the market pitched as LGBT+ Shakespeare retellings for fans of HEARTSTOPPER and THE PRINCE AND THE DRESSMAKER, and that one of the authors, Stephanie Kate Strohm, wrote one of my favorite go-to YA Christmas novels, PRINCE IN DISGUISE, well, I immediately sat up and started paying attention.  The Arden High series begins with TWELFTH GRADE NIGHT, and will continue in 2023 with KING CHEER.

Arden High is a school where, quite literally, the Bard's stage has come to life and his beloved characters have been reincarnated as students and teachers. You'll see familiar names from various plays, but this particular tale centers around one of my favorite Shakespeare comedies, Twelfth Night. If you don't know the play at all, it doesn't matter. You don't need to in order to read this graphic novel! If you have read it, you'll smile at the way the authors chose to re-invent the tale for modern times.


In this version, twins Viola (Call her Vi) and Sebastian are separated, not by a shipwreck (Though there are some GLORIOUS shipwreck photos in Vi's imagination that are full page highlights of the book! So beautifully illustrated!!), but by school. They grew up going to private boarding school together, but for high school, the private schools separate the boys and the girls. On top of that, Vi has never felt comfortable wearing skirts or acting lady-like. The twins make a path to go to Arden High together, but at the last minute, Sebastian decides to stay, leaving Vi alone someplace completely foreign -- but also someplace where she can finally be herself?

Vi begins to settle in and make friends, but the dance is swiftly approaching. All Vi's male friends can talk about is asking out the gorgeous Olivia -- even Orsino, the poet Vi has had a crush on since the first day. Orsino even asks Vi to find out if Olivia would be interested, since the two of them are friends. The only problem? Olivia has a crush on Vi and wants her to be her date! Oh what a tangled web we weave...




TWELFTH GRADE NIGHT is light and fun and exactly what readers would expect from a modern-day rendering of one of the Bard's most famous comedies. While I wish it was a little longer and deeper, it's a solid start to the series and begins introducing the school and the characters that will reoccur as it continues. It was so much fun to see the way characters were re-style and brought into today's world. Many of the characters aren't straight, and everyone else is an ally -- there is no hate here which is a breath of fresh air. There is a sub-plot that explores assumptions, where everyone assumes that because she dresses like a guy, she must only like girls, which creates a lot of confusion to sort out later, but is addressed with everyone later. There's also a close look at the power of social media, how it shapes the lives of today's teens, and how it can also add a lot of confusion and misdirection to the mix. On a more serious note, Vi is also dealing with the fallout that comes from getting older and becoming your own person. She is no longer attached at the hip to her twin. They are learning to have their own identities and be their own people, and that always comes with growing pains. On top of that, her father died a couple of years before the book begins, which has changed her entire family. 

TWELFTH GRADE NIGHT blends a lot of modern teen issues into a classic tale, bringing old elements into a new environment and creating a tale that is both familiar and new. If you're looking for something fun and joyful with bold, colorful artwork, look no further than TWELFTH GRADE NIGHT!
    ~*~

C O N T E N T R A T I N G S

Content Ratings: highlight between ( ) for details

Romance: G ( Kissing )
Language: --
Violence: --G ( Someone cuts themselves on glass and is bleeding. The aftermath of someone being killed by a snake bite that happened before the character arrived. Bandits trying to be dastardly when the MC sees too much and saying they'd take her home, but she escapes. )
Other: G ( Two different characters -- one of which is the main character -- bond over the fact that both had fathers die in the last couple of years [One to cancer and one to an accident]. One character persists in calling Viola and not her preferred hame, Vi, but no other character does this. )
~*~
C O V E R   D E S I G N:

What is a better cover for a retelling of Twelfth Night then throwing the infamous love triangle up on the cover? It's a modern day reinterpretation of what Viola, Orsino, and Olivia would look like if their story took place today! It instantly shows you the characters and hints at the fun lying within!

~*~

O F F I C I A    I N F O:

Title:  TWELFTH GRADE NIGHT
Author: Molly Horton Booth and Stephanie Kate Strohm
Illustrator: Jamie Green
Release Date: October 11, 2022
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
FIND IT: GoodreadsAmazon, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org
SUMMARY:


"Magical and full of queer joy―this book is such a dream!"―Alice Oseman, New York Times best-selling author of Heartstopper

-----

The course of true love never did run smooth . . . and neither does high school in this new graphic novel series for fans of HEARTSTOPPER and THE PRINCE AND THE DRESSMAKER.

Vi came to Arden High for a fresh start and a chance to wear beanies and button-ups instead of uniform skirts. And though doing it without her twin feels like being split in half, Vi finds her stride when she stumbles (literally!) into broody and beautiful poet-slash-influencer, Orsino. Soon Vi gets roped into helping plan the school’s Twelfth Grade Night dance, and she can’t stop dreaming about slow dancing with Orsino under the fairy lights in the gym.

The problem? All Vi’s new friends assume she’s not even into guys. And before Vi can ask Orsino to the dance, he recruits Vi to help woo his crush, Olivia. Who has a crush of her own . . . on Vi.

Star-crossed love abounds in this hilarious and romantic story of self-discovery, mistaken identities, and the magic that happens when we open our hearts to something new.



 ~*~ 

ABOUT THE AUTHORS




Molly Horton Booth (they/she) is a writer, editor, and author of Young Adult fiction. Their next book is the graphic novel TWELFTH GRADE NIGHT, coming October 11th, 2022, book 1 in the ARDEN HIGH series co-written by the amazing Stephanie Kate Strohm and illustrated by the incredible Jamie Green. Book 2 in the series, KING CHEER, will be published Fall 2023. Molly is currently a copywriter for Wayfair.com, where she describes bookcases in exquisite detail. 

Molly grew up homeschooled, earned their BA in English from Marlboro College, and earned their MA in English from UMass Boston. She lives in Baltimore, MD where she spends a lot of time with her partner, family, and friends, and the rest doting on her pets. 

Literary agent: Alexander Slater at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates




STEPHANIE KATE STROHM is the author of It’s Not Me, It’s You; The Date to Save; The Taming of the Drew; Prince in Disguise; Love a la Mode; That’s Not What I Heard; Restless Hearts (Katy Keene #1) and Once Upon a Tide: A Mermaid’s Tale. After graduating with a joint major in theater and history from Middlebury College, she acted her way around the country, performing in more than 25 states.

She currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband, her son, and a dog named Lorelei Lee. 

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | Pinterest | Goodreads | Bookbub




Jamie Green
 is a maker and professional curious person living in Greenville (funny, right?), South Carolina. They graduated in 2020 from Ringling College of Art and Design with a BFA in Illustration. In 2019, they was recognized by the Society of Illustrators as the Zankel Scholar. Much like her hobbies, their work can be described as the feeling of being bundled up around a campfire or hiking through the autumn woods. It is a goal of theirs to both intrigue and educate, combining nature and whimsy and creating a space for curiosity (as well as a bit of magic). Jamie strives to create picture books, illustrated educational books, magazine covers, interactive materials, and chapter book covers/interiors.  


  
~*~
****Giveaway*****

You could win...


-   Win (1) physical copies of TWELFTH GRADE NIGHT by Molly Horton Booth, Stephanie Kate Strohm, and Jamie Green!


US Only

You must be at least 13 years old to enter or have a parent's permission!

Enter now!



~*~

TOUR SCHEDULE



Tour Schedule:

Week One:

10/1/2022

Kait Plus Books

Excerpt/IG Post


Week Two:

10/2/2022

A Dream Within A Dream

Excerpt/IG Post

10/3/2022

travelersguidetobooks 

IG Review

10/4/2022

The Caffeinated Reader

Review/IG Post

10/5/2022

Unconventional Quirky Bibliophile

Review/IG Post

10/6/2022

A Backwards Story 

Review/IG Post

10/7/2022

Just Another Teen Reading Books

Review/IG Post

10/8/2022

See Sadie Read

Review/IG Post


Week Three:

10/9/2022

Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers

Review/IG Post

10/10/2022

@booksrn_rashi

IG Review

10/11/2022

Wanderingwitchreads

TikTok Review/IG Post

10/12/2022

MandaTheBiblio

Review/IG Post

10/13/2022

booksaremagictoo

Review/IG Post

10/14/2022

Novel Novice

IG Spotlight

10/15/2022

Nonbinary Knight Reads

Review/IG Post


Week Four:

10/16/2022

The Book View

Review/IG Post

10/17/2022

Ya Books Central

Excerpt/IG Post

10/18/2022

onemused

IG Spotlight

10/19/2022

Nerdophiles

Review

10/20/2022

A Blue Box Full of Books

IG Review

10/21/2022

A Bookish Dream

Review/IG Post

10/22/2022

@jacleomik33 

IG Review


Week Five:

10/23/2022

Celia's Reads

Review/IG Post

10/24/2022

Ohyouread

IG Review

10/25/2022

@thebookishfoxwitch

IG Review

10/26/2022

One More Exclamation 

Review/IG Post

10/27/2022

Eli to the nth 

Review/IG Post

10/28/2022

The Bookwyrm's Den

Review 

10/29/2022

PopTheButterfly Reads

Review/IG Post


Week Six:

10/30/2022

The Momma Spot

Review/IG Post

10/31/2022

Brandi Danielle Davis 

IG Review


Comments