Growing pains, game-play adventure, and 20-sided dice abound in this new graphic novel series about a middle school Dungeon & Dragons club.Valeria Winters has an easier time finding trouble than making friends. A fantasy-obsessed nerd with the legendary confidence—and temper—of a Valkyrie, Val promises her mom that things will be different at her new school. “No more fighting!”As if by fate, she meets the Table Titans right away: Alan, Andrew, and Darius, who run the school’s tabletop gaming club. Finally, Val has found her own adventuring party! Even better . . . a place where she belongs.So when the future of the club is threatened, Val makes it her personal quest to save the Table Titans. She’ll have to face the fire-breathing wrestling coach and popular girl Kate, who seems out for revenge. Revenge for what? Val has no clue.As the quest grows more and more complicated, Val wishes she was like her peaceful druid Lulani from the Table Titans’ campaign, whose calm voice always prevails. If she loses her cool in real life, Val might lose more than the Table Titans club. She’ll have to roll a natural 20 in charisma to keep her new friends together. This tale of friendship and finding your people blends zany, fantastical visuals with slice-of-life humor. Just right for fans of fantasy and coming-of-age stories alike.
Kurtz is the Eisner and Harvey Award–winning cartoonist who helped pioneer webcomics with his daily feature PvP. Since then, he has produced podcasts, animated series, and live roleplaying events, as well as a diary comic called MORT, which chronicles his time as a caregiver for his father.
The creator said in a statement:
“Table Titans Club started with us trying to get the original Table Titans webcomic into the hands of younger readers. Everyone we approached loved it, they just wished it was written for middle-grade audiences. So I decided to create a new series that chronicled how these characters came to know each other in their youth.”
“I remember middle school being a very challenging time of my life. Ironically, it was tabletop gaming that led me to like-hearted kids who I’m still friends with to this day. I don’t think that’s an accident. Tabletop games, by design, encourage kids to come out of their shells, form bonds and imagine all kinds of possibilities. I wanted to capture that with Table Titans Club.”
“Valeria Winters (our protagonist) has got a big personality and big feelings to match. I think a lot of middle-grade readers can identify with that. Everyone wants to belong, I hope Table Titans Club shows young readers that you can be yourself, feel big, and still find your tribe.”
*Excerpt from Table Titans Club courtesy of Holiday House Publishing Inc. / Text and illustrations © 2024 by Scott Kurtz / Colors by Steve Hamaker / Color assists by Cole Roberts, Deon Parson, and Faby Saturn / All Rights Reserved
