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by Mirtes Santana (Author), Guilherme Petreca (Illustrator)
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
"Packed with punk rock and monster fights, this graphic novel's fun vibes will be rocking right off middle grade shelves." --School Library Journal, starred review Meet Violeta! Violeta is a thirteen-year-old skateboarder and podcaster. But most importantly? She's a PUNK! Oh, and a superhero, too. Superhero + punk = SUPERPUNK. That's Violeta! After discovering her grandfather's old cassette player, Violeta decides to play a cassette tape backward. (Why? It's pure punk rebellion, duh!) What she didn't know was this rebellious act would grant her magical powers! Aaaaand . . . unleash monsters. A LOT of them. Violeta will need to use all her new superpowers to protect her home of Hollow Hills from the strange creatures and send them back to wherever they came from. Luckily, she's joined by Alan, Violeta's faithful sidekick and fellow podcaster. Together, they'll have to find a way to put these monsters back in their place. But between homework, podcasting, and skateboarding, Violeta has a tough time managing it all. When a horde of monsters descend on her school, will this superpunk be able to save the day? Multi-award-winning comic book artist Guilherme Petreca and TV writer Mirtes Santana bring you Superpunk, a radical adventure story about the need to rebel and act out to protect the people and things you love.Author Biography
Mirtes Santana spent her childhood staying up late reading manga and watching hours of anime on TV. After having her otaku card revoked for becoming a samba enthusiast in her teenage years, she has been discovering her punk side as an adult and playing drums in her spare time (watch out, Travis Barker!). Just like Alan, the paranormal podcaster, she adores a good conspiracy theory and loves to tell inventive stories. Since she's gotten too old to be a roadie on the Bikini Kill's comeback tour, she has become a screenwriter, writing for successful children's TV series in Brazil such as Brainiacs (Gloob), Monica's Gang: the Series (Globoplay), and The Nutty Boy (Netflix). Superpunk is her first work as a comic book artist.
Guilherme Petreca was blown away when he first encountered hardcore and punk rock through the soundtrack of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 and a CD that came with an issue of Surf Attack magazine (back when magazines still came with CDs). He played in garage bands in his youth but mostly preferred to channel that energy into making comics instead of his questionable musical talent. He is the author of Carnaval de Meus Demônios (2015) published by Balão Editorial, a finalist for the Jabuti Award, and Ye (2016) published by Veneta, which won the 14th Japan International Manga Awards and the HQ Mix Trophy. He published Ogiva (2020) with writer Bruno Zago, which was adapted into a live-action film, and Shamisen (2021) and Kabuki (2025) with writer Tiago Minamisawa. He is also an art director, concept artist, and storyboard artist for TV and movies. Superpunk, initially published as a zine in 2017, was inspired by his preadolescence, when he walked around with his Walkman and believed in invisible monsters.
