Young adult author and graphic novelist Kami Garcia releases her first middle grade graphic novel Mixed-Up, illustrated by Brittney Williams, which follows a creative fifth grader navigating a dyslexia diagnosis. For artist Stella, fifth grade has been miserable. Textbooks are too thick and have few illustrations, and worse, she is unable to comprehend the text-heavy guide for the companion video game to her favorite show, Witchlins. The reveal of this year’s class project adds to her troubles; instead of painting a mural like she expected, Stella and her classmates are each meant to craft a novel. But how can Stella write a book when reading is hard enough as it is? In a conversation with PW, Garcia spoke about tackling career firsts and the importance of graphic novels in supporting children’s literacy.
In your author’s note, you write that Mixed-Up was inspired by your daughter’s experience with dyslexia. How much did that inform how you approached crafting Stella’s story?
I was a teacher and a reading specialist for 17 years before I became a full-time writer, so I worked with a lot of kids who had dyslexia. Then when I had my daughter, she was also diagnosed with dyslexia in early elementary school. I’m not dyslexic—I have ADHD—so I didn’t know a lot about dyslexia as a parent. Books are always my solution for when I don’t know something, so I read a lot about dyslexia for parent perspectives. But then as my daughter was getting older, I wanted to be able to read her books about dyslexia for children. I was able to find some picture books and chapter books, but I didn’t really find a lot. I wanted her to discover that love of reading that I always had as a child. Though she loved books when she was younger and I was reading them to her, when it got to the point where she was supposed to be reading independently, it was challenging for her.
Then she discovered graphic novels. At that time, I had started writing graphic novels for young adults that skewed a little young, so she was diving into them in middle school, and she loved them. When I started thinking about ideas for this story, I wanted to make sure that I didn’t write my daughter’s exact experience because, who knows, she might become a writer one day and want to tell her own story. But I wanted it to be inspired by her, I wanted it to be a book she could connect with. So I wrote about a fifth grade girl, an artist, who doesn’t know she has dyslexia.
I was surprised that I couldn’t find a graphic novel about a child with dyslexia. Immediately I started thinking about what a perfect medium it was for that story. One of the challenges I came up against as a teacher was people telling me that graphic novels weren’t real books. But they’re important. Graphic novels usually aren’t text-heavy. My Teen Titans comics were printed with dyslexia-friendly fonts. I had been super thoughtful about even the way the balloons would work in the layouts, because I wanted to write something that was accessible to everyone.
What sort of elements were you looking for when choosing an artist for this project?
Stella is half Cuban and half white, and her best friends are Japanese American and Black, so I knew I wanted someone who could draw diverse characters. There’s a big difference in the art between somebody who understands that and someone who doesn’t.
I first saw Britt’s work in Lois Lane and the Friendship Challenge [written by Grace Ellis], and she recently did Girl on Fire [written by Alicia Keys and Andrew Weiner]. Then we talked about the project and about her experiences with neurodiversity and the way it’s affected her, and how art was not only an escape, but a way for her to communicate with the world. That was exactly what I wanted the art to do.
She has this incredible ability to capture the way a character feels using very subtle expressions, which was important in a book like this, because even in moments where Stella is just feeling a little insecure, I still needed someone who could convey that discomfort, especially as her lack of confidence becomes more pronounced.
This is your first original graphic novel as well as your first work for middle grade readers. How did writing the script for this comic compare to your previous books?
It’s been interesting because I taught children in that age group. People were always like, “Why haven’t you written a book for middle schoolers?” I think, in a lot of ways, it’s harder to write for younger kids, because you have to be really careful not to talk down to them, but you also have to make the book accessible. There’s this kind of a tightrope you’re walking between not making it babyish, while also not making it so difficult that they can’t read it independently.
But I also think it’s important in middle grade to have a unique character who can capture the hearts and minds of the reader. My imagination had not yet created that character for me. I never wanted to write a middle grade just to have it on my resume. So when I thought of Mixed-Up, I was like, “This is it.” This is a character who loves school and then suddenly doesn’t because of this challenge, this learning difference.
I wanted to make the book as decodable as possible, especially for kids who had just learned they were dyslexic or who were using the Wilson Reading System [an instructional program to assist struggling readers]. That was challenging because I felt like I couldn’t do it 100% without compromising and repeating too much language. It required a lot of rewriting dialogue, which was actually a great exercise for me, because it made me realize what kind of words I tend to overuse. It involved a lot of talking to myself out loud to see what sounded natural and what didn’t. One of the things I really wanted for this book was for it to level the playing field so a teacher could use it in the classroom, or a kid could read it for the book report and still be accessing the same kind of intellectual material that their friends are. I wanted to purposefully create something that students could have a lot of discussion around, whether they’re kids who love reading or kids who are struggling with it.
What’s next for you?
I have another original graphic novel for young adults that I’m working on with Sweeney Boo called High School Bites that’s coming out in 2026 from HarperAlley.
Mixed-Up by Kami Garcia, illus. by Brittney Williams. First Second, $22.99 Jan. 21 ISBN 978-1-250-14233-7; $14.99 paper ISBN 978-1-250-84088-2
