Punk Rock Karaoke

WINNER OF THE NAACP IMAGE AWARD • Rock your heart out in this coming-of-age tale that draws upon the explosive joy of the underground scene while raising questions about the importance of community and what it means to succeed on your own terms; written and illustrated by Ignatz Award-winning and nationally syndicated cartoonist Bianca Xunise. "Stole my heart from the first page to the last. Endlessly funny and sincere."-Tillie Walden, Eisner, and Ignatz Award-winning cartoonist When life gives you guitars, smash them! School is out for summer and Ariel Grace Jones is determined to make it one for the books! Together with their bestie bandmates, Michele and Gael, Ariel believes they're destined to break into the music industry and out of Chicago's South Side by singing lead in their garage punk band, Baby Hares. But before Baby Hares can officially get into the groove, the realities of postgrad life start to weigh on this crew of misfits. Ari begins to worry that it's time to pull the plug on their dreams of making it big. Just when all hope feels lost, a fellow punk and local icon takes an interest in Ari's talent. It seems like he might be the only one Ariel can rely on as frustrations between bandmates reach an all-time high.

Bianca Xunise is a cartoonist based out of Chicago, Illinois. Their work primarily focuses on the plight, joy, and daily struggles of misfits within the black community. In 2017 Xunise earned an Ignatz for Promising New Talent for their comic Say Her Name, an autobiographical story of police brutality and social justice. In 2020 Xunise earned their second Ignatz for their contribution to Be Gay, Do Comics published by IDW. Xunise has collaborated with Vogue, The Washington Post, The Nib, and Believer Magazine. They are also a contributor to the book How We Fight Supremacy: A Field Guide to Black Resistance along with Ta-Nehisi Coates, Tarana Burk, and Harry Belafonte. Bianca became the first nationally syndicated non-binary cartoonist when they joined the comic strip Six Chix in 2020 as their first black creator.