Alicia Keys Announces Debut Graphic Novel About 14-Year-Old Black Female Superhero
Five years in the making, Alicia Keys is announcing the release of her first graphic novel – and it’s about a teenage Black female superhero.
Inspired by her fifth studio album and single “Girl on Fire,” the singer’s first-ever young adult graphic novel was and took to Instagram to celebrate.
Rated R&B reports the new novel follows the story of 14-year-old Lolo Wright, a young girl from Brooklyn who discovers she has superpowers. Co-written by Andrew Weiner and illustrated by Brittney Williams, Girl on Fire is based on her hit song lyrics.
In a past statement about the book, Keys says she wrote it in order to inspire young women of color to be their best self.
“When I wrote ‘Girl On Fire,’ I knew I was writing it for that girl in the way back row who needed someone to tell her there’s nothing you can’t do, that nothing is impossible,” she noted in the statement, according to Rated R&B. “When Andrew and I came up with the idea of translating the song into a young adult graphic novel, I knew that I wanted it to be about a girl coming to realize the strength she’s always had. There’s a little Lolo in all of us …”