WNDMG Author Interview – Elizabeth Agyemang

I’m so excited to be able to introduce you to author Elizabeth Agyemang today. Elizabeth is the author of multiple books for MG and YA readers, and today we will be discussing her newest graphic novel for middle grade readers: “A Beginner’s Guide for Leveling Up: A Graphic Novel” which comes out from Putnam/Penguin Kids on September 8, 2026.

Graphic novels are so POPULAR with kids right now! Librarians and educators- you don’t want to miss this!

About “A Beginner’s Guide for Leveling Up: A Graphic Novel:

TRON meets sixth grade in this heartfelt and fantastical graphic novel where a pixelated quest helps one girl navigate grief, friendship, and the wilds of middle school.

Sixth grade. The game just got real.

For Lexie, this year was supposed to be all about joining clubs, claiming the perfect lunch spot, and gaming after school with her best friends. But shifting friendships and the grief of losing her beloved grandfather make middle school feel more like someone switched her life to hard mode.

Then Lexie discovers a mysterious journal tucked inside her grandfather’s things. It’s filled with cryptic notes and cheat codes from an unfinished video game he was creating: Warrior’s Quest. When Lexie and her older sister, Eunice, are suddenly transported into the game’s pixelated world, the line between reality and fantasy starts to blur.

Can Lexie and her sister level up and face the monsters in the game—and in real life—or is it game over for good?

Interview with Elizabeth:

I loved getting to talk to Elizabeth about her new book and I know you will enjoy meeting her and her character Lexie as well.

SSS: I was fortunate to read an e-galley of this beautiful book! Tell us how you came up with an idea of this Lit-RPG graphic novel, (Lit-RPG, literature with characters in role playing/video games, is super popular on instagram right now, with “Dungeon Crawler Carl” being shared by many bookstagrammers.)

EA: Thanks so much for having me and for the kind words about A Beginner’s Guide to Leveling Up! The idea for this book came to me during a period where I had just finished working on my debut middle grade graphic novel, Fibbed. I was dealing with a lot of change at that point and navigating a familial loss.

I found myself wanting to escape back into the things I loved growing up: comics and video games! Initially the story was a way for me to blend those passions, but I soon realized that Lexi’s journey of grappling with the recent loss of her grandfather — all while trying to survive in middle school and figure out who she was—came to also be my way of wading into those questions.

I love that you describe the book as a Lit-RPG graphic novel! RPGs have always been a huge entry point for storytelling and the genre blending nature of Lit-RPGs is such an exciting aspect of that space. I loved being able to draw from my favorite elements of RPGs like character progression mechanics to explore the story in the book. One element of that is seen in how Lexie and her friends “level up” throughout the story.  

There’s also the RPG-like class archetypes that appear in how Lexie and her friends initially define themselves in the story versus who they become. For Lexie, she starts out believing herself to be one thing (a little sister, a sidekick in her friend’s stories) and realizes she has a capacity for so much more, and that sometimes it isn’t just other people putting us in a box—it’s ourselves. I also had so much fun making parody references to some of my favorite video games!

SSS: I love that! Tell us more about the character Lexie. How does she find healing and manage her grief through the story?

EA: Lexie is the youngest daughter in her family and really looks up to her oldest sister, Eunice. She also had a great relationship with her grandfather. But after his passing, Lexie feels like nothing in the world makes sense anymore. Her sister is being distant, she doesn’t have her grandfather anymore, and she just can’t be as excited about middle school like her best friends are. So, Lexie has to face the grief of losing her grandfather and losing her sister who is still around but feels like a stranger.

I don’t think Lexie even realizes she’s dealing with grief, because at such a young age, it can be very hard identifying what you’re actually going through. When the video game world takes over Lexie’s school, it’s only then that she and her friends realize that everything they were dealing with in real life is mirrored in the game. Lexie starts to realize that maybe if she can confront her grief through the game, then she can face it in her real life. Art for me has always been a way to grapple with life questions and topics. I wanted to use role playing games as a way to explore these themes alongside the fun adventures Lexie and her friends go on.

SSS: Tell us about Lexie and Eunice’s sisterhood. How does their relationship help (or hinder) them in their healing processes after their grandfather’s death?

EA: The story starts right when Lexie and Eunice are facing the first big challenge of their sisterhood. They’ve always been best friends, but now Lexie feels like she doesn’t even know her older sister anymore. Even though they are both dealing with the shared grief of losing their beloved grandfather, they are isolated from each other.

Lexie feels like Eunice is trying to make it seem like their grandfather never existed, while Eunice feels like Lexie is reopening old wounds by constantly bringing him up. As the story progresses and when the unfinished video game that their grandfather created comes to life, the two sisters begin to realize that, maybe, the way they’ve been separately dealing with their grief isn’t what they truly need. And as they are forced to face the game together, they also learn that they are stronger together—even when it comes to dealing with their individual fears.  

Link to order here.

Writing Process

SSS: I always like to ask authors about their writing process, but in this case, you are both author and illustrator of this beautiful book! What is it like to create a graphic novel, and is it a longer process than writing a prose novel?

EA: So, I’ve written two novels, and this is my second graphic novel and I feel like each one is a new learning experience. With prose novels, the challenge is putting the world you’re imagining into words. With graphic novels, you also have the additional challenge of drawing those worlds.

In the script, if I wanted to describe Lexie, I could use a few words to paint the picture, but that same picture can take hours to draw—and when you are drawing, you have to include details that you might not include when writing the character. Like, Lexie has a bracelet. In a novel, I’d probably mention it a few times, but in the graphic novel I have to draw the bracelet over and over again! Because of that, it’s definitely a longer process to create a graphic novel. It took me around 3 years and 11 months just sketching, inking, coloring and doing the lettering for A Beginner’s Guide to Leveling Up. Writing the script was a lot shorter, but even with that you have to think about the flow of the dialogue and the emotional and narrative beats of the story and later tweak that to fit the art.

When you’re drawing, you also have to think about the consistency of the art style even when your wrists are in pain or you’ve reached a point where you literally cannot physically draw the thing in your head! Overall, though, it’s really rewarding, but also incredibly challenging and the physical strain is intense. For my first graphic novel Fibbed, I drew most of the initial sketch by hand, scanned them, then inked, colored, and lettered them digitally (lettering being placing the text and bubbles). For A Beginner’s Guide to Leveling Up, I did most of my sketches digitally, though I did hand draw and scan some art pieces, and then I did the rest of the art digitally. So, my art process also changes depending on the needs of each book and how I want to approach them.

SSS: Are you a pantser or a plotter? And what helps you with finishing stories when you first start writing your drafts?

EA: Definitely a plotter! I always want to know where a story starts and finishes before I dive into it. That said, it still feels like an organic process because the characters might do or say something differently than what you plan.

For instance, when I first started working on A Beginner’s Guide to Leveling Up, I outlined it as just a fun romp with Lexie and her friends facing a video game world and trying to level up in middle school. That same core arc is there, but I got to know the characters better as I was writing and drawing the story. As a result, the book evolved, and the narrative became about what Lexie was dealing with in her personal life. That shift also impacted what the video game world of the book became too.

SSS: How is the process of writing YA different from writing MG?

EA: I’ve really enjoyed being able to write across different age categories. With YA, it’s always fun getting to tell stories about angsty and messy teenagers dealing with drama. With middle grade, I love the hopefulness and joy that’s really inherent in writing in this space. A young person’s relationship with their family plays such a big part in the middle grade journey, and I love weaving in the parental figures into those themes. In contrast, with YA I think teens are more focused on their friendships and their individual sense of personhood outside of their families.

Across both age categories, I enjoy finding out who the characters are. I also always incorporate art into my writing process even when it comes to writing prose novels like my YA novel, Heart-shaped Lies. I usually sketch or draw my characters even before they become characters in my books. I was looking back at my early art, and I realized I’d even done a drawing of a character in 2020 that would later become Lexie. So, it all really feels full circle!

SSS: Any advice for fellow middle-grade authors looking to write and illustrate MG?

EA: My biggest advice would be to read a lot of middle grade graphic novels! There are so many incredible creators telling stories in this space and I think the most rewarding part of writing and illustrating middle grade graphic novels is being in conversation with the work of some of my favorite writers and artists.

Taking the time to learn the craft and understanding the process of making graphic novels felt really instrumental to my growth as an artist. I also think, just in general, it’s okay to embrace imperfection. In a time when technology is removing us from the human experience, I find myself as an artist and a writer embracing my imperfections and my artistic style. Finding your style and what makes you, “you” as a writer and illustrator is rewarding because you’re bringing your unique voice into the conversation.

SSS: I have to ask! Are you a video game player in your regular life?

EA: Um, yes! I love video games and always have. In fact, part of why I started writing was because of video games. Video games like Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, the Legend of Zelda, and so many more have a special place in my heart! The storytelling in role playing video games constantly inspires me to keep pushing the limits of how stories can be told.

Thank you Elizabeth for joining us and I know readers and librarians will enjoy your book!

About Elizabeth:

Elizabeth Agyemang writes and illustrates books that draw from folktales, history, and her African heritage. Her debut graphic novel, Fibbed, was a Parents.com Best Children’s Book of 2022 selection and a Chicago Public Library Best Fiction for Kids 2022 pick, and her work has been featured in Ebony, Paste, and Girls’ Life and on Time.com and OkayAfrica. When she isn’t gushing over books, Elizabeth spends her free time dissecting classic movies and TV shows.

Find her online at ElizabethAgyemang.com

Website: elizabethagyemang.com

INSTAGRAM: @authorelizabethagyemang

Tiktok: @authorelizabethagyemang

Newsletter: Notes from My Drafts Folder: http://eepurl.com/gOI7QD

Shifa Safadi

SHIFA SALTAGI SAFADI is the National Book Award winning author of Kareem Between, the Amina Banana series, and several picture books, including The Gift of Eid. She has a bachelor’s degree in English literature, is a former ELA teacher, and is passionate about spreading a love of reading through storytimes and school visits. Shifa was born in Syria and immigrated to the US with her parents as a young girl. She lives near Chicago with her husband and four children.

Find her on Instagram @shifasaltagisafadi