middle grade

The Real Riley Mayes is a Sid Fleischman Humor Award Honor Book

events and news

The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators held their virtual Golden Kite Gala on February 24, 2023. THE REAL RILEY MAYES was selected as an Honor Book for the Sid Fleischman Humor Award. SCBWI will be making donations to the Kentucky Foundation for Women, and Oklahomans for Equality. FREDDIE VS THE FAMILY CURSE by Tracy Badua was selected as the Sid Fleischman Humor Award Winner. You can see her fantastic speech, and all the other winners, here: https://www.scbwi.org/golden-kite-gala-2023/

It’s a gigantic joy to have RILEY recognized for her humor. In the book, Riley ‘s own jokes usually fall flat, but she loves a comedian with all her spirit. In reviews, folks mention bullying & difficult conversations around LGBTQ issues- these aren’t the focus of the book, they’re more like an inevitable bug in Riley’s life. When readers imagine books with those events in the pages, they may imagine serious books. I wanted to make this a funny book. Why? Because against the straightness of this world, the experience of discovering you’re queer (and embracing and conveying that queerness throughout your life) has its hilarious moments.

“The Real Riley Mayes” is a Stonewall Honor Book

events and news

I’m overwhelmed (in the BEST way) to learn “The Real Riley Mayes” is a Stonewall Honor Book in Children’s & Young Adult Literature! Huge thanks to the American Library Association, The ALA’s Rainbow Round Table, Donna Bray of Balzer + Bray, Susan Hawk of Upstart Crow Literary, my family, friends, and loving partner Carol for all the support– and thanks to YOU for supporting LGBTQ+ books for young readers!

Once I get time to make a graphic of all the honorees / winners book covers, I’ll put it here. 🙂 Meanwhile, check out all the winners, and resources from ALA’s Rainbow Round Table at https://www.ala.org/rt/rrt

School Visits and Workshops

events and news, resources for teachers, teaching with comics

Do you love connecting kids with creators? That’s fantastic, because I love helping creative kids put their ideas into words and pictures! I’ve taught classes in comic making and diary comics at Lexington’s Living Arts and Science Center, and I’ve taught workshops through Kentucky Arts and Humanities. During the pandemic, I also led a weekly drawing hangout for kids for a year and a half, and guest-taught at Homeschool Co-op 2020. Workshop activities include: playing games like “Animal + Emotion + Occupation” or “Ghostwriter”, making four-panel comics, or creating a class-wide zine. Check out the School Visit and Workshop flyer below! Then email re@rachelelliott.me or use the contact form in the ABOUT page.

elliott-workshops-flyer-1Download

The Making of THE REAL RILEY MAYES: Research

the making of "The Real Riley Mayes"

Hello! This is the second of four blog posts about the making of THE REAL RILEY MAYES, a graphic novel for kids. This post focuses on inventing a character. Read the first post here.

Do you remember the first time you were so intrigued by someone, you just had to find out more about them? At 10 years old, I remember getting interested in short biographies to find out more about well known people: What were they like when they were kids? How did they grow up? What were their likes and dislikes? How did they become so AMAZING?

In the book THE REAL RILEY MAYES, Riley is searching for new friends… but she’s also searching for information about her favorite TV comedian, Joy Powers. Aaron helps her surf the web, but they don’t find an email or mailing address for fan mail. Instead, they find an intimidating photo gallery of her thirteen trips to the White House. Riley’s research into Joy Powers’s life is sometimes thrilling, sometimes daunting.

can you tell which panel was inspired by this photo by Pete Souza?

Artists and illustrators also do research to make better stories. I’d like to share with you some items I found through research. Drag the bar on each photo to reveal the research that inspired various pages in THE REAL RILEY MAYES!

Continue reading →

The Making of THE REAL RILEY MAYES: Inventing a Character

the making of "The Real Riley Mayes"

Hello! This is the first of four blog posts about the making of THE REAL RILEY MAYES, a graphic novel for kids. This post focuses on inventing a character.

In the opening pages of THE REAL RILEY MAYES, Riley doodles her favorite comedian on her homework, suggests off-the-wall football plays at recess, and stabs herself with a marker in protest during class. To the reader, her character emerges quickly. But it actually took months and years to create Riley.

Continue reading →

Printable SAY GAY and BIG FAN Real Riley Mayes Postcards

resources for teachers

Since Riley uses the U.S. Mail to contact her favorite TV comedian, I drew and designed these postcards. I bring them with me to book signings for THE REAL RILEY MAYES. Want some of your own to mail to your fave celeb, LGBTQ organization, your friends, or even your enemies? Here are two downloadable, printable color PDF files to make your own RILEY MAYES postcards. It works with Avery 8387 postcards, or you can print them on standard 8.5 x 11 cardstock and cut them yourself.

color_riley_saygay_postcard_4upDownload
color_riley_bigfan_postcard_4upDownload