The Exquisite Triumph of Wormboy

By Sydney Lea & James Kochalka. Published by Word Galaxy Press.  

Softcover, 116 pages, Poetry alongside B&W comics, 2020. 

In The Exquisite Triumph of Wormboy, multi-award winning illustrator and graphic novelist James Kochalka brings us a thematic collection of drawings that chronicle the exploits of a worm who embarks on an adventure of rescue, fueled by inescapable surges of bravery. This odyssey is aptly and expertly versified into an ekphrastic epic by former Vermont Poet Laureate Sydney Lea. Readers of all ages will be entertained by the sights, tension, suspense, and humor of this unique collection.

Yet here’s a leaf! And here’s a boat!
And here’s the cure for the chill of doubt!

Why should not hope, however odd,
Be just as strong, no, stronger than gods?

“Lea's plainspoken New England voice has benefited from its multi-genre development, making the poems here easy in diction, resistant to lyric flights and focused on making sense of things.”—Publishers Weekly

“Like his mentor Frost, Lea vividly contextualizes . . . his beloved rural New England.”—Library Journal

[Lea’s] elegant book [is] rhythmically satisfying, with its jazz-like riffs . . . by a man at the top of his game.”
—Ploughshares

“Kochalka’s simple line drawings and bright crayon colors stand.”—Booklist

“Kochalka remains the cheery, sentimental, earthy, creatively goofy guy. . . . Extremely stuff”—Booklist

"Bright and very busy panels take readers through a roller-coaster ride of guffaws, gaffes, and giggles.”
―Kirkus Reviews

Kochalka's signature blend of bonkers storytelling and pencil, ink & digital illustrations has its fans and they will definitely enjoy this volume in this bizarre, yet endearing series.”
—School Library Journal