Someone’s Gonna End Up Crying

Aspiring graphic novelist Maple Owens uses her sketchbook as a private diary where she can illustrate whatever’s on her mind. The sensitive almost 11-year-old, known in her family as an overthinker and a wallflower, frequently doodles her alter ego Captain Ladybug—a bold superhero whose decisive actions bring joy to an adoring public. In reality, though, Maple agonizes about her parents’ increasingly fraught relationship and the pressure of acing math quizzes to earn a class ice-cream party. She comforts herself by playing with her older siblings and planning the fort that her father has for two summers promised to help build in her beloved namesake tree. But she worries as her parents’ arguments grow increasingly bitter and frequent, and Maple’s dad starts disappearing for longer stretches. Knowles (Meant to Be) works Maple’s anxieties and her messy, often conflicting feelings about her parents’ deteriorating relationship into an emotionally complex tale that, through the protagonist’s introspective first-person voice, smartly considers parental and sibling dynamics and art’s restorative nature. Loose-lined b&w spreads from Maple’s sketchbook, rendered by Fawkes (Charlotte Bronte Before Jane Eyre), offer moments of levity throughout. Character skin tones largely echo the white of the page. Ages 9–12. Author’s agent: Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Anjali Singh, Ayesha Pande Literary. (May)