Molly Knox Ostertag has revealed the cover for her upcoming YA Graphic Novel “The Girl from the Sea.” The book, due out in June of next year, tells the story of Morgan, a 15-year old who falls in love with a mystical being from deep under the waters of Nova Scotia. That being is named Keltie, and Ostertag describes her as a “charming, mysterious, VERY cute girl who also happens to be a selkie.”
“Selkies live most of their lives as seals, but thanks to a kiss from Morgan she can walk on land,” Ostertag says in an interview with The Beat. “And she doesn’t understand the point in hiding who you are.”
While the romance of the story may be magical in nature, Ostertag still wanted the plot grounded in the present day, and in the realities of growing up LGBTQ+. “The Girl from the Sea” opens with Morgan, isolated both physically and emotionally from her friends. Her parents have just divorced, and she’s spending her whole summer on a tiny island house near the small fishing town of Lunenburg. Morgan has also been keeping her sexuality a secret from her friends, intending to do so until college. That’s the plan, at least until she meets Keltie. “I don’t want to say much about it because it’s very tied into the plot! But Keltie brings a sort of wild, chaotic, fairy-tale magic to Morgan’s grounded life.”
Ostertag drew on many of her own life experiences for the story. The island setting was inspired by Wilneff Island in Nova Scotia, where she would spend summers with her teacher parents every year. While she describes it as “magical,” and one of the most beautiful places she has ever been, the tiny island could feel like a prison to a teenager, thanks in no small part to the lack of electricity and plumbing. But Ostertag also took great care in ensuring the story was just as relevant to today’s YA audience. “There was definitely a temptation to set it in the aughts when I was a teen, but I wanted to make something for kids and teens now, as opposed to playing into nostalgia for my own youth,” she said.
“The Girl from the Sea” hits shelves on June 1, 2021.
