One of New York Times‘s 2011 Notable Children’s Books of the Year, the graphic novel Level Up, is getting a new softcover release. Written by Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese, Boxers and Saints) and illustrated by Thien Pham (Sumo), the hardcover was originally published by First Second. The softcover will be released through Macmillan’s children’s paperback imprint, Square Fish.
To commemorate the July 19th, 2016 release, Level Up‘s cover has received a make over, and we’re proud to share it with you today:
Level Up
by Gene Luen Yang and Thien Pham
On Sale 7.19
$9.99
Dennis Ouyang lives in the shadow of his parents’ high expectations. They want him to go to med school and become a doctor. Dennis just wants to play video games–and he might actually be good enough to do it professionally.
But four adorable, bossy, and occasionally terrifying angels arrive just in time to lead Dennis back onto the straight and narrow: the path to gastroenterology. It’s all part of the plan, they tell him. But is it? This powerful piece of magical realism brings into sharp relief the conflict many teens face between pursuing their dreams and living their parents’.
Partnered with the deceptively simple, cute art of newcomer Thien Pham, Gene Yang has returned to the subject he revolutionized with American Born Chinese. Whimsical and serious by turns, LevelUp is a new look at the tale that Yang has made his own: coming of age as an Asian American.
the original coverGene Luen Yang has written and drawn many comics, including the hit Avatar: The Last Airbender series.American Born Chinese was a National Book Award finalist, as well as the winner of the Printz Award and an Eisner Award. He also won the LA Times Book Prize for Boxers & Saints. He is the author of the acclaimed comics and coding graphic novel series Secret Coders. Yang lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. photography by Albert Law : www.porkbellystudio.comTHIEN PHAM is a comic book and visual artist, based in the Bay Area. He is also a high school teacher. Pham illustrated Gene Luen Yang’s Level Up, a YALSA Great Graphic Novel and New York Times Notable Children’s Book. Sumo is his first solo work.
