Malcolm Kid and the Perfect Song

A 2024 YALSA Best Graphic Novel for Teens

A 2023 National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards Graphic Novel Finalist

A 2026 Big City Reads Shortlist Selection

Debut writer Austin Paramore and artist Sarah Bollinger (Girls Have a Blog) strike a chord in this humorous and heartfelt story about love, loss, legacy, and the music that ties them all together.

What does the perfect song sound like?

Normally, Malcolm Kid wouldn’t give this type of question the time of day. As a straight B-student with a heart of copper, he is far more concerned with overcoming mediocrity than he is with achieving perfection. But that all changes when he stumbles across the LK-2000–a strange keyboard cursed with the soul of an old jazz musician.

Malcolm soon learns that the only way to free this musician’s soul is by performing the perfect song. With much hesitation, and the help of his lifelong friend January Young, Malcolm embarks on a musical journey across the city of New Bronzeville in the hopes of discovering the perfect song and finding himself as a musician along the way.