A beautiful YA graphic novel about the complexities of teenage life, the tangles of twinship and the power of music to somehow make sense of it all.
Sometimes everything feels heavy and uncomfortable. My body, my family, my life... And the only thing that releases that weight is music... It’s like a secret passageway to a world where everything is switched off but sound... and I feel free.
Nel is 15 years old, and life is a grind. GCSEs are exhausting, social pressures are relentless and parents and teachers seem oblivious. Somehow Ludo, Nel’s handsome twin brother, seems untouched by it all, gliding effortlessly through life’s complications with a confidence and arrogance that only illuminates Nel’s insecurites. Her best friend, Kit, and her playlist are the only things keeping her going. When Ludo joins a band and Kit starts going out with the guitarist, it feels like even the tiny space Nel has carved out for herself is in peril.
But nothing lasts forever, and teenage life can change in a heartbeat. When Nel unexpectedly takes Ludo’s place in the band, she has to work out whether life outside the shadows is really all it’s cracked up to be. Sometimes, you have to follow the music to find your way back to yourself.
Sarah Lippett is an Edinburgh-based illustrator and author and graphic novelist. Her first graphic novel, Stan and Nan (Jonathan Cape 2016) won the Quentin Blake Prize and was a Guardian bestseller. Her second, A Puff of Smoke (Jonathan Cape, 2019) was a Guardian graphic novel of 2019. Sarah is one half of Onion Press and lectures in illustration at the University of Edinburgh.
Ziggy Hanaor is a writer and publisher living in London. She is the author of V&A award-winning graphic novel Alte Zachen (2022), Carnegie-nominated The Egg Incident (2023) and Life (As We Know It) (2025), as well as picture books including Alex and Alex (2021) and The Pocket Chaotic (2020) - all Cicada.
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A beautiful YA graphic novel about the complexities of teenage life, the tangles of twinship and the power of music to somehow make sense of it all.
Sometimes everything feels heavy and uncomfortable. My body, my family, my life... And the only thing that releases that weight is music... It’s like a secret passageway to a world where everything is switched off but sound... and I feel free.
Nel is 15 years old, and life is a grind. GCSEs are exhausting, social pressures are relentless and parents and teachers seem oblivious. Somehow Ludo, Nel’s handsome twin brother, seems untouched by it all, gliding effortlessly through life’s complications with a confidence and arrogance that only illuminates Nel’s insecurites. Her best friend, Kit, and her playlist are the only things keeping her going. When Ludo joins a band and Kit starts going out with the guitarist, it feels like even the tiny space Nel has carved out for herself is in peril.
But nothing lasts forever, and teenage life can change in a heartbeat. When Nel unexpectedly takes Ludo’s place in the band, she has to work out whether life outside the shadows is really all it’s cracked up to be. Sometimes, you have to follow the music to find your way back to yourself.
Sarah Lippett is an Edinburgh-based illustrator and author and graphic novelist. Her first graphic novel, Stan and Nan (Jonathan Cape 2016) won the Quentin Blake Prize and was a Guardian bestseller. Her second, A Puff of Smoke (Jonathan Cape, 2019) was a Guardian graphic novel of 2019. Sarah is one half of Onion Press and lectures in illustration at the University of Edinburgh.
Ziggy Hanaor is a writer and publisher living in London. She is the author of V&A award-winning graphic novel Alte Zachen (2022), Carnegie-nominated The Egg Incident (2023) and Life (As We Know It) (2025), as well as picture books including Alex and Alex (2021) and The Pocket Chaotic (2020) - all Cicada.
Order your copy now
