Simon & Schuster Beats Ten Others To Win Jessixa & Aaron Bagley’s Duel

Struggle struggle struggle! Eleven publishers had been reportedly after Duel, the debut center grade graphic novel by husband-and-wife group Jessixa Bagley and Aaron Bagley, together with an unnamed second undertaking. Kendra Levin at Simon & Schuster beat out the others at public sale and Duel is deliberate to be printed in November 2023.

“A rivalry between sisters culminates in a fencing duel on this humorous and emotional debut graphic novel certain to enchantment to readers of Raina Telgemeier and Shannon Hale. Sixth grader Lucy loves fantasy novels and is brand-new to center college. GiGi is the undisputed queen bee of eighth grade (in addition to the whole lot else she does). They’ve solely received one factor in frequent: fencing. Oh, and so they’re sisters. They by no means received alongside tremendous properly, however ever since their dad died, it looks like they’re all the time at one another’s throats. When GiGi humiliates Lucy within the cafeteria on the primary day of faculty, Lucy snaps and challenges GiGi to a duel with excessive sisterly stakes. If GiGi wins, Lucy guarantees to remain out of GiGi’s means; if Lucy wins, GiGi will cease teasing Lucy for good. However after their scene within the cafeteria, each ladies are on skinny ice with the principal and their mother. Lucy stopped training fencing after their fencer dad died and should get again to preventing kind in secret or she’ll be in huge hassle. And GiGi should behave completely or danger getting kicked off the fencing group. Because the clock ticks all the way down to the ladies’ fencing bout, the anticipation grows. Their college is split into GiGi and Lucy factions, full with t-shirts declaring children’ allegiances. Each sisters are decided to triumph. However will successful the duel imply fracturing their household even additional?”

Jessixa Bagley attended the College of Washington after which Cornish Faculty of the Arts the place she graduated in 2004 with a BFA in portray and printmaking. She’s labored with publications similar to The Chicago Reader, The Seattle Weekly, The Stranger, Nickelodeon Journal, and Highlights. Her debut image ebook was Boats for Papa in 2015. Aaron Bagley acquired his BFA from Cornish Faculty of the Arts and his work has been featured in The Virginia Quarterly Overview, Seattle’s The Stranger, The Seattle Weekly and extra. His youngsters’s ebook Vincent Comes Residence was printed in 2018 as a collaboration with Jessixa.

Their agent, Alexandra Penfold at Upstart Crow Literary brokered the deal for world English rights. Duel might be printed on the seventh of November.