Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Chismosas Only Book Club, Heidi Moreno, Laeken Zea Kemp

Heidi Moreno Draws Comics Pages For The Chismosas Only Book Club

Heidi Moreno craws comics pages for Laeken Zea Kemp's The Chismosas Only Book Club novel

Published Sun, 09 Nov 2025 07:57:04 -0600

Article Summary

The Chismosas Only Book Club is an illustrated novel by Laekan Zea Kemp, with comics art by Heidi Moreno.
Four best friends navigate high school challenges and deepen their bond through a magical bookstore and book club.
Mixing prose and graphic novel chapters, the story blends whimsy, friendship, ancestry, and cultural heart.
Set for summer 2026 release by Putnam, the book captures the magic of friendship and the love of bookstores.

The Chismosas Only Book Club by Laekan Zea Kemp, an upper middle grade novel with select chapters illustrated as graphic novel panels by Heidi Moreno, is about four best friends who form a book club to stay connected as they begin high school, and the magical bookstore that fuels their friendship. Ruta Rimas at Putnam has bought publishing rights at auction to The Chismosas Only Book Club for publication in the summer of 2026. Lccekan Zea Kemp's agent, Andrea Morrison at Writers House, sold North American English and Spanish rights, and Heidie Moreno's agent, Adriana Dominguez at Aevitas Creative Management, sold world rights.

"The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants meets Mexikid in this heart-warming novel with illustrations about four friends and the magical bookstore that holds them together. Cat, Sofia, Ana, and Mari are best friends. Nothing, nada, can break that special bond they share. And after Cat's mom chides the girls to quit their loud cackling at the bookstore as they carrying on like a bunch of old chismosas, the name sticks–Cat creates The Chismosas Only Book Club, so the girls can connect to one other, even when their class schedules and club activities rip them apart as high school begins. But ninth grade is harder than any of the girls predicted, and it seems that no amount of conchas y libros y riendos at Milagros Book Store, founded generations ago by Cat's great-great-great grandmother, can repair the ever-growing cracks in their friendship. But maybe the spirit of Milagros herself can. Filled with whimsy and heart, and interspersed with black & white graphic novel chapters, comes a charming, inventive novel that explores the magic of friendship, the enchanted embrace of ancestors, and the power of the stories we share. And, of course, a wonderful reminder that books–and bookstores–are * magic *."

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