Today's the Day: Zita the Spacegirl Released!

TITLE: Zita the Spacegirl
AUTHOR + ILLUSTRATOR: Ben Hatke
PUBLISHED BY: First Second (a division of MacMillan)
ISBN: 978-1596434462
PURCHASE: hardcover or paperback

Oh, friends! I am so so happy to tell you that today is the official release date of Ben Hatke's first graphic novel, Zita the Spacegirl. You might remember Zita the Spacegirl. I've only been talking about it for the last 6 months.

Ben is a dear friend, and so I am especially thrilled about this book. But I am not promoting it because he is a friend, I am promoting it because it is excellent. In fact, reading it was the most fun I've had reading a book in ages. I love it.

Oh, and check out this great article about writing with a pack of "boisterous girls" on MacMillan's blog:

Actually AS I WRITE THIS ARTICLE, my eight-year-old daughter is telling me about all the magical things that she’d seen in an indoor antique emporium, including blown eggs, a mouse diorama, and a chicken wagon (can you imagine something called a chicken wagon?). Now on the one hand (she’s still talking), this is a TREMENDOUS DISTRACTION because I’m supposed to turn this article in in the morning. On the other hand, how can a storyteller not be inspired by an eight-year-old’s description of blown eggs and chicken wagons?

I promise a full review next week, but right now, let me just note: if any of you are DC readers, you have a chance to meet Ben and hear him talk about his book and writing and illustrating process at Politics and Prose on February 17. He'll be signing books, too. But you better get there early, because I am buying 20 copies, and he's going to sign them all. (I'm not even kidding.)

Links: Ben's personal blog and portfolio; Zita the Space Girl website; First Second Books.

Read an excerpt here.