Nell of Gumbling

Let’s get this party started! I’m so excited to kick off the Nell of Gumbling by Emma Steinkellner Book Tour hosted by TBR and Beyond Tours. 

About the Book

Raina Telgemeir meets the Land of Stories in this charming graphic novel-diary hybrid about a twelve-year-old girl and her perfectly average magical life.

To everyone else, the Magical Land of Gumbling is something out of fairy tales. But to Nell Starkeeper, it’s just home. The town community center is a castle, her dads run a star farm, and her best friend Myra is a fairy. But Nell is more interested in finding out if she’ll get the apprenticeship of her dreams with world-famous artist Wiz Bravo.

She’s pretty sure her entire life has been RUINED when she’s instead matched with boring old Mrs. Birdneck in the town archives. And of course, her perfect rival Leabelle gets to work with Wiz, and mean girl Viola won’t let Nell forget it. Meanwhile, suddenly Myra seems more into hanging out with Leabelle and saving the town from some weird strangers who keep talking about turning Gumbling into a fancy resort than being friends with Nell anymore. Can Nell find a way to save everything that makes her world magical, while figuring out where she belongs in it? 

Review for Nell of Gumbling

If you’ve been around for a while, you know I’m addicted to graphic novels, and I love the middle-grade trend! What better setting than living on a star farm with a fairy for a best friend? Nell wants to be an artist but her teacher has other plans. Told in journal entries, heavy with art, we couldn’t help but to keep turning the pages. When a plot twist arrives, it’s up to Nell and her friends to prevent it from happening. This was a fun and engaging read that has me hoping for more from this author! 

About the Author

Emma Steinkellner is an illustrator, cartoonist, and writer based in Los Angeles, CA.

She is the author and illustrator of the middle-grade graphic novel The Okay Witch (Aladdin, Fall 2019). The Okay Witch tells the story of 13-year-old Moth Hush. Magic is to be expected when you’re a Hush in an adventure that spans centuries, generations, and even worlds. Moth unravels the complicated legacy of witches at the heart of her town, her family, and herself.

She is a graduate of Stanford University’s Department of Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She created, wrote, and illustrated her thesis It Gets Weird, a science fiction sex ed graphic novel for adolescent readers and where she proclaimed herself “one of Stanford’s most elite goons”.

Working in print and webcomics, Emma has illustrated projects with her radiant sister Kit Steinkellner. This includes the teen rom-com webcomic Aces. The superhero coming-of-age story Quince with Fanbase Press was nominated by Eisner. She is the creator of the comic diary Pow Slam Sparkle.

Website – Instagram – Goodreads 

Nell of Gumbling Book Tour

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