It’s time for a look at an excellent new, perfect-for-fall graphic novel as well as a giveaway! Read on for my thoughts on Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks’ Pumpkinheads as well as information on how to enter to win a copy of it! Thank you to my friends at Raincoast Books for generously providing a copy for giveaway!

Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell, illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks, color by Sarah Stern
Source: Hardcopy courtesy of Raincoast Books. Thank you!
Publication: August 27, 2019 by First Second
Book Description:

In Pumpkinheads, beloved #1 New York Times bestselling author Rainbow Rowell and Eisner Award-winning artist Faith Erin Hicks have teamed up to create this tender and hilarious story about two irresistible teens discovering what it means to leave behind a place – and a person – with no regrets.

Deja and Josiah are seasonal best friends. Every autumn, all through high school, they’ve worked together at the best pumpkin patch in the whole wide world. (Not many people know that the best pumpkin patch in the whole wide world is in Omaha, Nebraska, but it definitely is.) They say good-bye every Halloween, and they’re reunited every September 1. But this Halloween is different – Josiah and Deja are finally seniors, and this is their last season at the pumpkin patch. Their last shift together. Their last good-bye.

Josiah’s ready to spend the whole night feeling melancholy about it. Deja isn’t ready to let him. She’s got a plan : What if – instead of moping and the usual slinging lima beans down at the Succotash Hut – they went out with a bang? They could see all the sights! Taste all the snacks! And Josiah could finally talk to that cute girl he’s been mooning over for three years . . .What if their last shift was an adventure?

“Josiah Templeton, you are a timid little bunny rabbit who has spent three years hiding down in that Succotash Hut from any hope of romance.”
“I wouldn’t say “hiding”-”
“Fortunately, bunny boy, your best friend is looking out for you…”

Bestselling author Rainbow Rowell (Attachments, Carry On) teams up with acclaimed Canadian artist and YA author Faith Erin Hicks (The Nameless City, Comics Will Break Your Heart) for the marvelously funny and adorable YA graphic novel Pumpkinheads.

When high school seniors and ‘seasonal’ friends Deja and Josiah face their final night- ever!- working their fall job at a popular pumpkin patch, a last minute change in plans alters the course of the friends’ lives. As the gorgeous, friendly and very funny Deja tries to help her cute and somewhat reserved friend Josie finally connect with a girl he’s been pining over for years, what should be a short excursion turns into an epic, unforgettable, by turns bittersweet and life-changing epic journey. By turns funny, exciting, and gorgeously endearing, Pumpkinheads is a cozy, witty, and warm delight of a graphic novel.

Rainbow Rowell seems in top form here in terms of storytelling and dialogue: the story is tight and smooth, pulling the reader in from the get-go and never letting up, while the banter between Josie and Deja is Amy Sherman-Palladino-level crisp, sharp and funny. The illustrations by Faith Erin Hicks are superb here (what a brilliant match for Rowell’s story!), while the rich, saturated pumpkin hues (color done by Sarah Stern) add to the toasty, nostalgic fall feeling. Even with so much vibrancy in colour and activity, though, the reader is magnetically to Deja’s and Josie’s beautifully appealing and demonstrative faces. The lead characters (as well as supporting) convey every manner of emotions and feelings…so much is said by glances, looks, grins, and blushes! It should also be noted that while there is indeed a possible-love-story-in-the-making happening over the course of Pumpkinheads, there is also an amazing running visual gag of an escaped goat terrifying pumpkin patch patrons. It is a zany and wonderful touch that speaks to Rowell and Hicks’ abilities to fuse different levels of lightness and comedy.

Cozy, sweet, laugh out loud funny; an altogether perfect blend of adventure and love story, Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks present a stellar graphic novel here with Pumpkinheads.  For contemporary graphic novel enthusiasts, for readers who clamour for anything by Rainbow Rowell, for fans of Faith Erin Hicks’ illustrative style, and for anyone who adores everything deeply steeped in the deliciousness of fall, Pumpkinheads is for you. (I also wonder (and hope) whether we may see another seasonally-tinged collaboration from the two in the future!)

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION

One (1) winner receives:

One (1) paperback copy of Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks.

Giveaway open to Canada and US. The giveaway will be open from September 13, 2019 to September 25, 2019. The winning entry will be randomly drawn via Rafflecopter, and the winner will have 48 hours to get in touch with me via email, Twitter, or Facebook confirming their CAN or US mailing address or another entry will be drawn.

Click here to enter the giveaway!

Good luck!

I received a copy of this title courtesy of Raincoast Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions and comments are my own. Book prize has been provided courtesy of Raincoast Books.