Malcolm Kid and the Perfect Song

by Austin Paramore, Sarah Bollinger (Illustrator), Marika Cresta (Illustrator), Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (Letterer)

Overview

A 2024 YALSA Best Graphic Novel for Teens

A 2023 National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards Graphic Novel Finalist

Debut writer Austin Paramore and artist Sarah Bollinger (Girls Have a Blog) strike a chord in this humorous and heartfelt story about love, loss, legacy, and the music that ties them all together.

What does the perfect song sound like?

Normally, Malcolm Kid wouldn’t give this type of question the time of day. As a straight B-student with a heart of copper, he is far more concerned with overcoming mediocrity than he is with achieving perfection. But that all changes when he stumbles across the LK-2000—a strange keyboard cursed with the soul of an old jazz musician.

Malcolm soon learns that the only way to free this musician’s soul is by performing the perfect song. With much hesitation, and the help of his lifelong friend January Young, Malcolm embarks on a musical journey across the city of New Bronzeville in the hopes of discovering the perfect song and finding himself as a musician along the way.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781637152232
Publisher:	Oni Press
Publication date:	08/01/2023
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Austin Paramore is an award-winning copywriter, poet, and author best known for writing the commercial that interrupted that one episode of the show you’re really into. A south side Chicago native, he grew up lugging around a cheap, student-model alto saxophone, roughly the same size as his adolescent frame. Little did he know, falling in love with the sounds and stories of jazz would one day inspire the creation of his debut graphic novel.



For more information about Austin and his creative works, visit austinparamore.com.

Hassan is a British-Algerian letterer who has worked on comics like Quantum & Woody, Red Sonja, First Knife, and more. He's also the editor of the Eisner-winning PanelxPanel magazine, and the voice behind Strip Panel Naked.

Editorial Reviews

"The first praise for Malcolm Kid and the Perfect Song is its humor, which can only be pulled off with such a great strength of characters, timing, layout, and comfortability with its subjects. [...] A strong story."

Virginia Library Association

"Paramore explores quintessential themes of grief and uncertainty in this warm and humorous tale."

Publishers Weekly