In November 2019, prepare to enter a shadowy world of criminals and thieves. The Beat is proud to present an exclusive first look at the cover to Janne Kukkonen’s Lily the Thief, a new graphic novel from First Second Books. Aimed at middle grade readers, this book centers on Lily, a young girl out to make a name for herself as a member of a secret society of thieves.

First Second will be publishing the English translation of the book, which was originally published in Finland as Voro (“The Thief”). Released there in 2016, Lily the Thief is Kukkonen’s debut graphic novel. It was awarded the 2017 Finlandia prize, the highest literary award in the country, in the Comics category.

Here’s what First Second Editorial & Creative Director Mark Siegel has to say about bringing Lily the Thief to English readers:

Lily the Thief almost immediately charmed me. Janne Kukkonen’s delicious graphic novel may be rooted in Finnish flavors and folk tales—but it’s as universally appealing as Zita the Spacegirl or Giants Beware! Readers young and old everywhere are delighting in it as a new classic.

Kukkonen began his career in animation, where he worked on music videos, commercials, and his own animated short projects.

Lily the Thief joins an already impressive slate of books coming from First Second in 2019. That list includes The Prince and the Dressmaker cartoonist Jen Wang’s next book, Stargazing, and the first graphic novel written by YA superstar Rainbow Rowell, Pumpkinheads, illustrated by Eisner winner Faith Erin Hicks (The Adventures of Superhero Girl, The Nameless City Trilogy).

Check out the cover to Lily the Thief below and look for the book in stores in November 2019.

1 COMMENT

  1. I’ve long been looking for comics about thieves and thieves’ guilds, so I’m excited for the release of this book!

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