Beauty

Beauty

Nominee: The Community of Literary Magazines and Presses, Firecracker Awards, Graphic Novel When the repulsively ugly Coddie unintentionally saves a fairy from a spell, she does not understand the poisonous nature of the wish granted her by the fairy. The village folk no longer see her as repulsive and stinking of fish—they now perceive her as magnetically beautiful—which does not help her in her village. A young local lord saves her, but it soon becomes apparent that Coddie’s destiny may be far greater than anyone ever imagined. Caustic and flamboyant, this fairy tale offers grownups an engrossing take on the nature of beauty. “Takes the fairy-tale trope and removes from it all the cheesecake Disneyness, giving the cautionary tale back its edge and teeth. This engrossing, subtly feminist story will have adult readers wanting to examine the underbelly of other traditional fairy stories. The combination of simple yet expressive figures against lush, painterly backgrounds is an exquisite example of European comic making.” —Eva Volin, Booklist   Hubert is the author of the Miss Don’t Touch Me series. Kerascoet is the pseudonym for a husband and wife team of artists who have contributed to the Dungeon series and the Miss Don’t Touch Me series.