Malcolm Kid and the Perfect Song - by Austin Paramore (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A 2024 YALSA Best Graphic Novel for Teens

A 2023 National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards Graphic Novel Finalist

Debut writer Austin Paramore and artist Sarah Bollinger (Girls Have a Blog) strike a chord in this humorous and heartfelt story about love, loss, legacy, and the music that ties them all together.

What does the perfect song sound like?

Normally, Malcolm Kid wouldn't give this type of question the time of day. As a straight B-student with a heart of copper, he is far more concerned with overcoming mediocrity than he is with achieving perfection. But that all changes when he stumbles across the LK-2000--a strange keyboard cursed with the soul of an old jazz musician.

Malcolm soon learns that the only way to free this musician's soul is by performing the perfect song. With much hesitation, and the help of his lifelong friend January Young, Malcolm embarks on a musical journey across the city of New Bronzeville in the hopes of discovering the perfect song and finding himself as a musician along the way.

Review Quotes

"The first praise for Malcolm Kid and the Perfect Song is its humor, which can only be pulled off with such a great strength of characters, timing, layout, and comfortability with its subjects. [...] A strong story."--Virginia Library Association

"Paramore explores quintessential themes of grief and uncertainty in this warm and humorous tale."-- "Publishers Weekly"

About the Author

Austin Paramore is an award-winning copywriter, poet, and author best known for writing the commercial that interrupted that one episode of the show you're really into. A south side Chicago native, he grew up lugging around a cheap, student-model alto saxophone, roughly the same size as his adolescent frame. Little did he know, falling in love with the sounds and stories of jazz would one day inspire the creation of his debut graphic novel.

For more information about Austin and his creative works, visit austinparamore.com.

Sarah Bollinger is a comic artist and illustrator who moves too much to say where she currently resides with any confidence. She started making comics during her time as a student at The College for Creative Studies in Detroit, co-creating the self-published fantasy comic, Knight & Beard, and the Webtoon featured slice-of-life series, Girls Have A Blog. In addition to writing and drawing, Sarah spends her time questing for new coffee flavors, endlessly coming up with new material for that stand-up comedy routine she's been working on since 7th grade, and taking countless photographs of her three-year-old child, Natalia.

Hassan is a British-Algerian letterer who has worked on comics like Quantum & Woody, Red Sonja, First Knife, and more. He's also the editor of the Eisner-winning PanelxPanel magazine, and the voice behind Strip Panel Naked.