We are thrilled to be revealing the cover for Sabrina Kleckner’s middle grade novel The Art of Running Away, which publishes on November 16th 2021 from Jolly Fish Press.
The Art of Running Away is available to pre-order on Amazon, Book Depository, Bookshop, and Indiebound. Jolly Fish Press and North Star Editions currently have 30% off fall release preorders using code FALL21 and free shipping when you spend over $30.
Read on to discover the synopsis, cover, and what Sabrina thinks about her gorgeous cover!
SYNOPSIS
Twelve-year-old Maisie is an artist. When she’s in front of her sketchbook or apprenticing at Glenna’s Portraits, the family-run art shop her grandmother started, the world makes sense. She doesn’t think about Calum, her brother who mysteriously left home and cut ties with her family six years ago, or her parents’ insistence that she “broaden her horizons” and try something new—something that isn’t art.
But when Glenna’s Portraits falls on hard times, Maisie’s plan to take over the shop when she’s older and become a lifelong artist starts to crumble. In desperation to make things right, Maisie runs away to London to reconnect with her adult brother, hoping he might be the key to saving the shop. But as Maisie learns about her family’s past from Calum, she starts to rethink everything she’s ever known. Maisie must decide not only if saving her family’s art shop is worth it, but if she can forgive her parents for the mistakes they’ve made.
Here’s what Sabrina has to say about her gorgeous cover: “I am absolutely OBSESSED with my cover! When I was writing the story, I had a few vague ideas in my head for how I would love the cover to look, and one I kept coming back to was Maisie in her older brother’s room with London visible out the window. Although Maisie is the protagonist, her brother and London are also very important to the story, so I hoped the cover would include them in some way or another. When I saw what the illustrator came up with, I was completely blown away!
Maisie looks so mischievous, and I love that the image plays on the title by depicting her both doing art and looking like she’s planning to run away out the window. The fluttering papers give nod to how chaotic Maisie is, but also hint at the intense finance job her brother has. The illustrator included so many other little details from the story, such as the bird drawings on the bed and the giraffe comic on the wall, and I’m so in awe of how much care and attention went into the making of it!”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sabrina Kleckner is the author of The Art of Running Away, a middle grade contemporary novel about family and identity. She began writing at the age of twelve, and is grateful to not be debuting with the angsty assassin book she toiled over in her teens. When she is not writing, she can be found teaching ESL or gushing about her three cats to anyone who will listen.
You can find Sabrina on Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, and her website.
