One Year at Ellsmere

By Fait Erin Hicks. Published by Macmillan.

Softcover, 176 pages, B&W, 2020 (originally published as "The War at Ellsmere" in 2008)

With revamped art, One Year at Ellsmere is an endearing—and surprising—middle-grade friendship story from beloved author Faith Erin Hicks!

Was boarding school supposed to be this hard?

When studious thirteen-year-old Juniper wins a scholarship to the prestigious Ellsmere Academy, she expects to find a scholastic utopia. But living at Ellsmere is far from ideal: She is labeled a “special project,” Ellsmere's queen bee is out to destroy her, and it’s rumored that a mythical beast roams the forest next to the school.

"Hicks’s varied panel sizes control pacing effectively, while her muted palette gives the castle-like school an archaic feel."—Horn Book

"Panels are broken out to capitalize on specific moments, creating a variety of impactful emotional beats: sardonic retorts, profound loneliness, smug satisfaction, and doe-eyed vulnerability. Previously published in black-and-white, this edition sports updated line art and solid color work by Shelli Paroline that subtly enhances Hicks’s original art."—Publisher's Weekly