Posted in: Comics, Current News | Tagged: Agent, graphic novel, Hamsters In My Head
Mela Rogers & Maddie Gallegos' ADHD Graphic Novel, Hamsters In My Head
Hamsters In My Head by Mela Rogers and Maddie Gallegos is a contemporary middle-grade ADHD graphic novel wss auctioned to Random House Graphic
Article Summary
- 'Hamsters In My Head' is an ADHD-themed middle-grade graphic novel by Mela Rogers and Maddie Gallegos.
- The book was auctioned to Random House Graphic, with world English rights secured.
- Mela Rogers and Maddie Gallegos are both known for other successful comic works.
- The novel aims to reflect the underdiagnosed ADHD in AFAB individuals through its story.
Hamsters In My Head by Mela Rogers and Maddie Gallegos is a contemporary middle-grade graphic novel where Vivian, a girl with undiagnosed ADHD, runs for student council president against her nemesis and must try to wrangle the hamsters running wild in her brain to succeed. They auctioned the world English rights, which have been won by Danny Diaz at Random House Graphic.
Mela Rogers is a nonbinary femme comic artist, illustrator, and musician, originally from southern New Hampshire, and moved to Savannah to study comics at the Savannah College of Art and Design, graduating with a BFA in Sequential Art. Two years ago, Mela sold their debut YA graphic novel, Love Light, to Henry Holt for publication in 2025. Maddie Gallegos created the graphic novel Match Point, published by First Second last year, 2023, and continues to publish her football webcomic, J Price Soccer, on Webtoon.
Mela Rogers posted to Instagram, "AFAB people are historically underdiagnosed with ADHD because their symptoms present differently than AMAB people – I didn't get diagnosed with ADHD until I was 22 for this reason! being a chatty overachiever meant my ADHD looked different than the boys I grew up around. that's one of the many reasons making this book is so exciting and important to me."
Maddie Gallegos posted to Instagram, "I truly had no idea my brain was different for SO long, and that's part of why Mela and I wanted to create this book!!!! I hope other people with ADHD can give HAMSTERS a read and see themselves in Vivian and Lin."
Apparently, it all began with these messages….
Hamsters In My Head will be published by Random House Graphic in the summer of 2026. Mela Rogers and Maddie Gallegos's agent, Chelsea Eberly, at Greenhouse Literary Agency, arranged the auction and the deal behind it.