• Author / Uploaded
• Tegnoor Sidhu

Citation preview

AN IMPRINT OF

This book is dedicated to Noelle, who is my very favorite witch.

Copyright © 2018 by Molly Knox Ostertag All rights reserved. Published by Graphix, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920 . SCHOLASTIC , GR APHIX , and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Library of Congress Control Number Available ISBN 978-1-338-25376-4 (hardcover) ISBN 978-1-338-25375-7 (paperback) 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

18 19 20 21 22

Printed in China 38 First edition, November 2018 Edited by Amanda Maciel Lettering and Color by Molly Knox Ostertag Additional color by Niki Smith Author photo © Leslie Ranne Book design by Molly Knox Ostertag and Phil Falco Creative Director: David Saylor

1

2

3

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

22

23

24

26

27

28

29

31

32

33

35

36

37

38

39

40

42

43

45

46

47

48

50

51

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

68

70

71

72

74

75

77

78

79

84

86

87

89

91

92

93

94

95

96

97

98

99

101

102

103

104

105

106

107

108

109

110

111

112

113

114

115

116

117

118

119

120

121

122

124

125

126

127

128

130

131

132

134

136

137

138

139

140

141

142

143

144

145

147

148

149

150

152

156

158

159

160

161

162

163

164

165

166

168

169

170

172

173

174

175

176

177

178

179

182

183

184

186

187

188

190

191

192

193

195

196

197

198

199

200

201

202

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Is the second one always easier, or did I just get lucky? This was one of those graphic novels that flowed so naturally from my first book, The Witch Boy, that the process of writing and drawing it was a joy. I’d like to thank the kind and dedicated people who helped me make it. Jen Linnan, my agent, always responds to my rambling emails and tells me when she has dreams about my cats. Amanda Maciel, my editor, loves these characters at least as much as I do, and always makes time in our discussions to go off track and talk about our shared love of true crime. Phil Falco makes the book look beautiful with his wit and wisdom, and Niki Smith is an amazing artist who helped make the process of coloring this a breeze. I drew this book with my evenings and weekends while working on the excellent animated show Star vs. the Forces of Evil. I really appreciate my coworkers at Disney for many, many coffee trips and our chats about art and comics and storytelling. The support for The Witch Boy from teachers, parents, librarians, independent bookstores, and – most importantly – young readers has meant the world to me. I hope I can keep making books that you enjoy reading!

is the author and illustrator of the acclaimed graphic novel  The Witch Boy and the illustrator of several projects for older readers, including the webcomic Strong Female Protagonist and Shattered Warrior  by Sharon Shinn. She grew up in the forests of upstate New York and graduated in 2014 from the School of Visual Arts, where she studied cartooning and illustration. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her girlfriend and several pets. You can find her online at mollyostertag.com.