Lizard Boy 2: The Most Perfect Summer Ever

Book two in this acclaimed graphic series explores intolerance through a relatable—and empowering—cast of middle-grade cryptids, immigrants, and outsiders.

In human disguise, the Lizk’t family of Elberon is now comfortably settled in Eagle Valley as the all-American Tomkins family. While his older sister is madly in love with her job and her perfect human boyfriend, Tommy Tomkins has new friends who understand what it means to be an outsider, especially Dung, whose family immigrated to America. When they find a treehouse in the woods, it seems like the perfect space where they can all be themselves—whether a Sasquatch, a girl made of snakes, or a robot from the future. And when they learn that Dung’s family will soon return to Vietnam, the friends vow to have the Most Perfect Summer Ever in his honor. But when Tommy’s face, the real one, turns up in an episode of Eagle Valley Paranormal, the hidden truth threatens to emerge, and a not-so-perfect Eagle Valley summer becomes a chance for a lizard boy to shine. Jonathan Hill’s graphic series captures the nuances of middle-grade life with energy, insight, and ample comic relief, proving that a united front—and sharing origin stories to keep the past alive—are a timeless antidote to intolerance.

Jonathan Hill drew on both the experiences of his Vietnamese American family and his love of ’80s sci-fi shows for first book in this series, Tales of a Seventh-Grade Lizard Boy, which was named to several state award lists. He is also the creator of Odessa and the cocreator, with MK Reed, of Americus and Science Comics: Wild Weather: Storms, Meteorology, and Climate. An Ignatz Award–nominated graphic novelist, illustrator, and educator, he lives in Portland, Oregon.