The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

'Jen Wang's cartooning is full of warmth and charm.' - AV Club, from their '10 Most Anticipated Comics of 2018' 'Leave it to such a gifted artist to create this love letter to aesthetic design set against the story of a relationship blossoming between seamstress and prince.' - Washington Post, from their '10 Best Graphic Novels of 2018' In modern fairy tales, there really are happy endings.'- New York Times 'There is so much love in Wang's illustrations, which are perfectly suited to the fairy tale nature of the 's completely satisfying. Joint winner of the 2018 Harvey Award for Best Children's or Young Adult BookĢ019 Children's and Teen Choice Book Awards Teen Book of the Year

(Feb.A Washington Post Best Graphic Novel of 2018Ī Boston Globe Best Children's Book of 2018Ī Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year It’s all but certain to deliver grins, gasps, and some happy tears. Frances’s daring designs shine in Wang’s elegantly drafted and gorgeously colored illustrations, and the irreverently anachronistic approach to the setting provides a lovely and humorous counterbalance to the seriousness of the prince’s situation (“Prepare to get your lady groove on,” insists the burly, bearded king, who is eager for Sebastian to be betrothed). “It’s weird, I don’t feel like Prince Sebastian could lead a nation into battle, but Lady Crystallia could,” admits the prince, inspiring Frances to create an armor-themed dress for their next midnight escapade. The relationship between Frances and Sebastian-both as a conflicted prince and the glamorous Crystallia-glows Frances understands that Sebastian and Crystallia are two halves of a brilliant whole. Despite Frances’s connection with Sebastian, she worries that being part of the prince’s secret is limiting her dreams of finding success as a designer. She soon discovers that her employer is none other than Prince Sebastian, who wants her to create dazzling gowns for Lady Crystallia, Sebastian’s alter ego, who quickly becomes a fashion icon.

After creating a scandalous dress for an attendee of Prince Sebastian’s 16th birthday party, Frances-an overlooked seamstress with big dreams-accepts a position as personal seamstress for a mystery client. A talented seamstress and a prince with a secret will win readers’ hearts in Wang’s utterly charming graphic novel, which is set in a playfully tweaked version of 19th-century Paris and highlights identity, acceptance, and fashion.

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang