Kathy Hoopmann
Blue Bottle Mystery Graphic Novel
Children’s Fiction
Full of mystery and intrigue, this graphic novel version of Kathy Hoopmann’s best-selling adventure follows Ben, a boy with Asperger syndrome (AS). When Ben and his friend Andy discover an old blue bottle in the school yard, little do they know of the mysterious forces they are about to unleash.
PEEK INSIDE
Why I wrote it…
To have a graphic novel made from your own novel is one of the rare joys of writing where someone else does all the hard work. Jessica Kingsley Publishers made the decision to create a graphic novel and Mike Medaglia wrote the story board – an art all of its own. Mike himself is a talented artist and it was only due to time constraints with his own books that he passed on illustrating Blue Bottle Mystery. The amazing, talented Rachael Smith was contracted to do the art work and I sat back as my novel came alive. I had input, of course. I edited text and commented on various illustrations and I became part of a creative team that produced something fun and wonderful. The process was fascinating and the end product a delight to the eyes. Hope you enjoy it!
Awards and Recognition
2015-2018
- 2018 Dolly Gray Children’s Literature Award (US): Long listed
- 2015 Foreword INDIE Book of the Year Award- Graphic Novels and Comics(US): Finalist
Reviews
“Blue Bottle Mystery is not just a solid exercise in taking an already successful work and re-imagining it for a new readership but also an object lesson in how to adapt material in a way that makes full use of the exclusive storytelling potential of the comics form. We need to see far more graphic medicine aimed at a younger readership like this that never patronises its target audience but informs and elucidates through the remarkable communicative power of sequential art.”
Broken Frontier
“I found this graphic novel both an absorbing story and an excellent way to try to better understand people with Asperger syndrome. I like the information boxes that are interspersed with the dialogues to help the reader understand situations from the point of view of someone with Asperger syndrome.”
Juno Magazine
“This is a book that offers an explanation of aspects of Asperger’s Syndrome in a fun way making it accessible to a wide range of readers, especially those (on the spectrum or not) who have a particular passion for visuals… All in all this is a perceptive, optimistic story that artfully weaves information relating to the condition throughout. It should find a place on the classroom shelves of all primary schools and in lower secondary libraries: those who read it will one hopes come away with a greater understanding of what it is to be ‘an aspie’. Let’s hear it for individuality and difference, and the way such characteristics can enrich the lives of us all.”