From the publisher’s website:
In Linette Moore’s debut, middle-grade graphic novel, The Prisoner of Shiverstone, eleven-year-old Helga Sharp is found unconscious in a drifting rowboat near the coast of Utley Island. Utley, as Helga finds out when she awakens in the hospital, is forbidden territory: it’s a prison island to which the Mainland has exiled troublesome mad scientists for generations. Helga is questioned by the island’s guards and though they’re suspicious of her story, they agree to let her stay until they find her family.
The truth is, it’s no accident that Helga landed here. She is a keen inventor, but the Mainland is suspicious of all scientists and inventors. While working on her projects in secret, Helga made radio contact with Erasmus Lope, a mad genius who everyone thought had died in a lab experiment gone spectacularly wrong. But Lope is alive, and Helga is on a mission to rescue him from the prison island.
Now Helga must find a way to break Lope out, right under the noses of the family of famous heroes that run Utley Island. There’s only one big problem—Lope’s trapped inside a giant crystal in the mad scientists’ museum!
“Linette is a really fantastic illustrator and artist … her work reminds me a lot of old Little Golden Books children’s books from the ’60s and ’70s. It’s a joy to look at.”—Trung Le Nguyen, author of The Magic Fish
Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Included in Booklist’s Top 10 First Novels for Youth: 2022
Included in the 2022 ALA Best Graphic Novels for Children Reading List
“Moore’s debut is an exciting entry in the world of middle-grade graphic novels, thanks to her unusual art style—her gorgeous watercolors in saturated tones have an appealing vintage look to match the story about a vibrant girl who dreams big. . .The focus on inventions will make this a nice STEAM crossover title, but the sci-fi story should have wide appeal among middle-grade comics fans.” – Starred review, Booklist
“This delightful confection will entice readers with a good mix of fantasy, mystery, and action.” – Starred review, Horn Book magazine
“This is a delightful, fast-paced read starring a protagonist whose love of science and adventure is at odds with societal expectations.” – School Library Journal