After scheduling an interview with Cecil Castellucci, writer of Shade the Changing Girl, I was eager to start my research and learn more about her. In addition to her monthly series, Cecil published more than fifteen other original Graphic Novels and works of Young Adult Fiction. Her most recent, Don’t Cosplay With My Heart, seemed like it would be a good place for me to start.
When we first hear from our main character, she’s in a lonely place.
Edan’s Dad has been sequestered. Her mom? Immobilized by a deep depression. Her grandma Jackie moved in to support them and her best friend Kasumi is away for the summer.
Things improve slowly as the year progresses. After geeking out at a local Comic Con over the summer, Edan decides to start a cosplay club at school. She calls it Superheroes Everywhere (SEW). The SEW club members help each other make original costumes and take group outings to conventions in the area. Edan chooses to cosplay as Gargantua, a widely known Team Tomorrow character. Team Tomorrow is a super-powered team like the Avengers or the Justice League.
Before you rush out to search for Team Tomorrow comics, take a step back. You should know that it’s a fictional team created by Castellucci for use in Don’t Cosplay With My Heart. However, notes on Team Tomorrow’s history and fandom, inserted between some of the story’s chapters, are fun asides.
Edan’s eventual change of tune is jumpstarted in part by her grandma Jackie.
Jackie signs her up to visit (in her handmade costumes) with hospitalized children. And it’s then that she’s able to step back and see the different challenges a couple of her close friends are facing from a widened perspective. These various problems are handled by the writer with sensitivity and care.
Cecil seems to draw passionately from a wealth of knowledge. Edan explains the basics of comic book conventions and the industries within them to her readers. This element is evident at Edan’s first convention, when she doesn’t know to purchase admission tickets in advance or when she is unprepared for the size of the panel programming lines.
Any geek girl (or guy) could take Don’t Cosplay With My Heart to their heart. And I highly recommend it.
For my next two posts, I’ll be highlighting other works by Cecil Castellucci. Then, on July 7th I’ll be posting an interview from the upcoming Denver Comic Con.
What was your first convention? Do you have a favorite Comic Con? Drop a comment!
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