Cat's Cradle: The Golden Twine

By Jo Rioux. Published by First Second. 

Softcover, 128 pages, Colour, 2022. 

Jo Rioux (illustrator of M. T. Anderson's highly acclaimed The Daughters of Ys) makes her debut as a writer-illustrator in this fantasy-adventure graphic novel trilogy!

Suri loves monsters—studying their lore, telling stories about them (for a fee), and—she hopes—one day taming them. Unfortunately, no one takes an orphan street-urchin who travels with a merchant camp very seriously. But Suri’s self-confidence, cleverness, and ambition serve her well when a mysterious new wagon joins her camp—holding something very big, very loud, and very monstrous.

And that’s before Suri runs afoul of a treacherous family with its own beastly secret—and a prince hunting the greatest monster of all.

"Jo has created a vibrant world full of magic and danger and cherry doughnuts. It’s a world I’d like to live in, even with the monsters.” —Ben Hatke, author of Zita the Spacegirl and Mighty Jack

"At times vividly hair-raising, the book never overwhelms the reader, making it a worthy entry in the too-small category of scary fun for middle grade readers... Thanks to Rioux’s crackerjack pace and dramatic panel composition, The Golden Twine is hard to put down."—New York Times

"Cat’s Cradle: The Golden Twine is a brilliantly crafted adventure brimming with lively, lovable characters and
intriguing mysteries that beg to be unraveled." —Matt Rockefeller, artist on the 5 Worlds series

"A captivating series start that will have readers clamoring for more."—Kirkus

"Adventure abounds in this first book in an exciting new graphic novel middle grade trilogy... Fantasy fans will love Jo Rioux’s debut middle grade graphic novel as author-illustrator.”—Book Riot