Hachette Children's to publish graphic novel about mental health

Hachette Children's Group will publish The Sad Ghost Club, a graphic novel tackling mental health by author and illustrator Lize Meddings.

Commissioning editor Lily Morgan acquired world rights in a two-book deal direct from the author. Volume one of The Sad Ghost Club will be published in January 2021, followed by volume two in January 2022, under the Hodder Children's Books imprint. 

The synopsis for The Sad Ghost Club says: "This graphic novel tells the story of one of those days – a day so bad you can barely get out of bed, and when you do, you wish you hadn't. When one sad ghost, lost and alone at a crowded party, spies another sad ghost across the room, they decide to leave together. What happens next changes everything. Because that night they start The Sad Ghost Club – a secret society for the anxious and alone, a club for people who think they don't belong."

The Sad Ghost Club started as a creative project run by the author, who makes comic books, apparel and merchandise with the aim of spreading positive awareness of mental health and providing knowledge and compassion for those experiencing both the good and bad of mental wellbeing. The Sad Ghost Club has 480,000 followers on Instagram. 

Sarah Lambert, publishing director at Hachette Children’s Group, said: "Never has the need to lift up those young readers who are feeling isolated or alone been so great and I am thrilled that this extraordinary graphic novel is joining the pack of HCG’s fiction that is inclusive, emotional and super-relevant for its YA audience right now."

Meddings commented: "I am beyond excited to get the chance to bring the Sad Ghost story to life in this way. A graphic novel is something I've always dreamed of making and thankfully Hachette Children’s Group gave me the push and the tools I needed!"