Square Peg snaps up illustrator Mead’s guide to life in 100 questions

Square Peg has acquired Why Aren’t We Talking About This?: An Inclusive Illustrated Guide to Life in 100+ Questions, described as “an illustrated guide to the biggest questions we ask search engines about our bodies, our brains and how we live together in society”, by illustrator and debut author Hazel Mead.

Marianne Tatepo, publishing director for Square Peg, acquired world all-language rights directly from the author. It will be published in hardback on 1st June 2023.

In the book, freelance illustrator Mead “turns to Big Data to uncover what we secretly ask search engines about our relationships, bodies and identities". The synopsis goes on: “With hundreds of demystifying and empowering illustrations, she offers a fun, shame-free and inclusive guide to life’s big questions. This is the emotional curriculum you’ll wish was taught in every classroom."

Mead, who has worked with brands such as Adobe, Netflix, Plan International, VICE and Bloody Good Period, said: “It’s a privilege to become part of the Square Peg family. After learning that it is an imprint that creates beautiful books to empower and entertain, I knew that it would be the perfect fit as these are also key cornerstones of my work. I like to think of this book as the textbook we never had in school: a cluster of life lessons I wish I’d known earlier.

“And I wanted to provide it all – crucial health information, digital security knowledge, the nuances of consent, an illustration of the diversity of genitalia, mindfulness exercises, an interrogation of ego, a deconstruction of society’s view on different bodies! No waffle, just good information, delivered in a creative, heavily illustrated way.”

Tatepo said: “Hazel is a creative whizz, with fans such as Viola Davis and Scarlett Curtis, and creating this book for over a year together has been transformative. I’ve had countless hushed conversations with friends about how we were taught to regard our bodies, relationships, brains, and selves in our formative years. The shameful silences or baseless fear-mongering sometimes endures well into midlife.

“What might it have been like to have a visual resource about the emotional lessons omitted from most classrooms or households? Hazel has written the book I want for my younger self. I hope cool aunts and open-minded parents everywhere will gift and read it, and that Why Aren’t We Talking About This? can complement the vital work of educators by tackling the questions we pester the Internet about but dare not ask aloud – or didn’t until now.”