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Published May 2017
400 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
Eighteen-year-old Eliza Mirk is the anonymous creator of Monstrous Sea, a wildly popular webcomic, but when a new boy at school tempts her to live a life offline, everything she's worked for begins to crumble.
Scott Westerfeld's Afterworlds meets Nimona in this novel about art, fandom, and finding the courage to be yourself. Features illustrations by the author throughout. Perfect for readers of Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl, this is the second novel by the acclaimed author of Made You Up.
In the real world, Eliza Mirk is shy, weird, smart, and friendless. Online, Eliza is LadyConstellation, the anonymous creator of a popular webcomic called Monstrous Sea. With millions of followers and fans throughout the world, Eliza's persona is popular. Eliza can't imagine enjoying the real world as much as she loves her digital community. Then Wallace Warland transfers to her school, and Eliza begins to wonder if a life offline might be worthwhile. But when Eliza's secret is accidentally shared with the world, everything she's built - her story, her relationship with Wallace, and even her sanity - begins to fall apart. With pages from Eliza's webcomic, as well as screenshots from Eliza's online forums, this uniquely formatted book will appeal to fans of Noelle Stevenson's Nimona and Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl.
"Starred Review. Zappia's lighter approach to these topics doesn't diminish the strength of this sensitive and compassionate story or the message mirrored in the themes of the webcomic: there are monsters in the world, both real and imaginary, and without support systems, those monsters can cause great harm." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. In her sophomore novel, Zappia gracefully examines Eliza's complicated struggle with anxiety, depression...peppered with detailed illustrations from Eliza's webcomic, drawn by Zappia herself. A fervent celebration of online fandom." - Booklist
"Starred Review. Creator of an astonishingly successful webcomic...Eliza finds her voice...A wrenching depiction of depression and anxiety, respectful to fandom, online-only friendship, and the benefits and dangers of internet fame." - Kirkus
"Starred Review. A must-have for all YA collections, especially where geek culture is celebrated. Grades 9 and up." - School Library Journal
"The ending is convenient but the story is strong and may inspire those who have similar monsters to confront them." - VOYA
"A love letter to fandom, friendship, and the stories that shape us, Eliza and her Monsters is absolutely magical." - Marieke Nijkamp, New York Times bestselling author of This Is Where It Ends
This information about Eliza and Her Monsters was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Francesca Zappia lives in central Indiana. When she is not writing, she's drawing her characters, reading, or playing video games. She is also the author of Made You Up and Eliza Mirk's favorite,The Children of Hypnos, a biweekly serial novel posted on Tumblr and Wattpad. Visit Francesca at www.francescazappia.com
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