The Beat announced yesterday that HarperCollins Children’s Books have won a bidding war for “Squire,” a fantasy graphic novel from writer/editor Nadia Shammas (“Corpus,” “All We Ever Wanted”) and illustrator Sara Alfageeh (“Rolled & Told”). The young adult book, which is due out in 2021, tells the story of Aiza, a 14-year old girl who dreams of becoming a knight, despite belonging to a people considered second-class by their rulers. Here’s the full synopsis:
“SQUIRE is a YA graphic novel set in a Middle Eastern-inspired fantasy world about a 14-year-old-girl, Aiza, who lives in an Empire wracked by famine and escalating border wars. Aiza dreams of becoming a knight, the most prestigious rank in the military, and the only way to elevate her status since her people, the Ornu, are second-class citizens in the Bayt-Saji Empire. Hiding her cultural background to train as a squire, she navigates the rigorous training that all knights undergo to test their mettle, making both friends and enemies in the process. However, everything falls apart after her friend gets badly injured during a raid and she uncovers a military conspiracy that threatens to keep the Empire in a state of perpetual war. Aiza will have to decide: turn her back on her morals and heritage, or turn her back on her dream and possibly, her only chance of freedom?”
The book is further described as a cross between Avatar: The Last Airbender, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Mulan (all Asian or Asian-inspired works). Shammas is a Syrian/Palestinian-American writer and editor who has interned at Marvel twice: her first anthology, “Corpus: A Comic Anthology of Bodily Ailments,” was published last year, and she is working on another one, “Augmented: A 2019 Cyberpunk Anthology,” with editor Alex Lu. Alfageeh is a Jordanian-American artist, teacher, speaker and creative director whose work has been featured by the BBC, and in Lucasfilm’s book Star Wars: Women of the Galaxy.
Nine different publishers bid on the rights for “Squire,” a rarity in the world of comics publishing: the winning bid was made by Andrew Eliopulos, the editor of Noelle Stevenson’s “Nimona.” Shammas tweeted “The outpouring of support has been completely wonderful and overwhelming. This story is so personal and precious to us. I’m writing something I wish I could have been handed as a child. Sara and I are hard at work.” Alfageeh posted “I can’t keep up with all the love, thank you so much for your enthusiasm and your kind words. We’re at the start of this journey and hope to see you all along the way! SQUIRE is a story that means a lot to us and we can’t wait to share more of it.”
Head on over to The Beat for some early character artwork for the book, which will be released in the Fall of 2021.
