Rainbow Rowell signs two-book deal with First Second

It’s time to fangirl because Fangirl author Rainbow Rowell has signed a two-book deal with First Second. She’ll be writing two as-yet-untitled graphic novels which will be YA prose fiction, in the same vein as the aforementioned Fangirl and Printz Honor winner Eleanor & Park. The books were acquired for First Second by Senior Editor Calista Brill. Are you fangirling yet? Because we are.

Critically acclaimed Canadian graphic novelist Faith Erin Hicks—the creator of Friends With Boys and Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong—has already signed on to illustrate the first graphic novel. “This project is a dream come true for me—three dreams come true: to get to write a graphic novel, to work with First Second, to collaborate with Faith. I know that sounds like hyperbole, but I’ve been over the moon about this project,” Rowell said in an exclusive statement to EW. “I still can’t believe it’s come together the way it has.”

Additionally, Rowell said she was extremely excited about the partnership with Hicks. “I started reading Faith’s graphic novels this summer…. And her work just clicked with me, especially Friends With Boys,” she said. “Her style is so expressive—dense with feeling and meaning. She tells you so much in every panel, even when she isn’t telling you anything. I really crave creative collaboration—that’s a theme in Fangirl and Landline—and I’m so excited to get to work with someone I respect as much as Faith. She’s talented, she’s ethical, she’s passionate about her work. Also, we’ve become friends on Twitter, and I trust anyone who loves Jean-Luc Picard as much as she does.”

Rowell, who’s a big fan of comics, started reading them when she was 14 when “the boy who sat next to me on the school bus started sending me home with his favorite titles. This is a familiar scenario to anyone who’s read my book, Eleanor & Park. My friend lent me the X-Men, Marshal Law, Hellblazer, Stray Toasters, The Dark Knight Returns, The Killing Joke…And I just inhaled them,” she said. “That was it for me. I’ve been reading comics and graphic novels ever since. And when I started writing novels, comics found their way into my books…. I’ve always read comics and thought about them and talked about them. And I fantasized about writing them, but that seemed so unlikely. I couldn’t imagine a path to that opportunity…. I’m so excited about it. I hope I’m good at it. If you can get good at writing comics by reading them, I’m going to be awesome. I’m definitely taking the project as seriously as any of my traditional novels. My goal is to get to do this again.”