Penny Out of Place: A Graphic Novel

From the team behind the graphic memoir Play Like a Girl, this contemporary middle grade graphic novel follows middle-schooler Penny, who navigates a changing and complex family dynamic that often leaves her feeling out of place.

Penny has always felt just a little bit out of place. Whether it was with her family, where her two sisters are always the stars, or in the school play, where she’s always cast in invisible background roles, or even with her two best friends, who don’t always “get” her…Penny wonders, is there ever going to be a place that she fits perfectly? Penny resolves that this year, things will be different. She’ll find her place.

But nothing goes as planned when Penny learns that her parents have been keeping a big secret from her…and that secret is named Brian. Brian is Penny’s biological father, who Penny had no clue even existed--and Brian has reached out, because now he wants to get to know Penny. The news is a huge shock to Penny, and it makes her wonder what her life would be like if she had known the truth all along. Is Brian the missing puzzle piece?

Full of big, messy feelings and even messier family dynamics, Penny Out of Place is a heartfelt exploration of finding your place and what makes a “real” family.