Tillie Walden is a cartoonist and illustrator from Austin, Texas. Born in 1996, she is a graduate from the Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont. Over the course of her time at CCS she published three books with the London based Avery Hill Publishing. Her graphic novels with First Second include her autobiographical work Spinning and the sci-fi epic On a Sunbeam. She is a two-time Eisner nominee and Ignatz Award winner who now lives in Los Angeles. When she is not drawing comics, Tillie can be found walking and listening to audiobooks or asleep with a cat.

"Magnificent." --The New Yorker

"Walden creates the intoxicating effect of a universe as mysterious as our real one." --The Atlantic

"Phenomenal . . . Utterly mesmerizing . . . A remarkable, stunning comic." --Booklist, starred review

"This masterful blend of science fiction-inflected school drama, road trip, and adventure is nothing less than marvelous." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

"A stunning interpretation of interstellar life . . . Bound to be a sci-fi favorite, especially for teens who also appreciated Nina LaCour's We Are Okay." --School Library Journal, starred review

"On A Sunbeam is an intimate, cosmic, and sometimes deeply funny work of art that is hopefully not the last glimpse of Walden's science fantasy world." --VOYA Magazine, starred review

"Both gently romantic and heartbreaking, the story ultimately celebrates love and the importance of chosen family. An affirming love story." --Kirkus

"Watching Mia and Grace rekindle their love against the backdrop of a bleak, mystifying universe is deeply satisfying." --The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"[A] pageturning and profoundly moving read." --Horn Book

"Tillie Walden is the future of comics, and On a Sunbeam is her best work yet. It's a 'space' story unlike any you've ever read, with a rich, lived-in universe of complex characters." -Brian K. Vaughan, Saga series and Paper Girls

"On a Sunbeam is a rare treat. It's both a slow-burn romance and a found-family space opera adventure with an engaging cast of characters. But it's the world building that really stands out, with a blend of SF and fantasy in a gloriously strange setting that is so brilliantly original I have no idea how to describe it. I enjoyed every bit of it." --Martha Wells, author of The Murderbot Diaries and The Books of the Raksura

"Enthralling, beautiful, and compelling. I couldn't put this down." --Ann Leckie, author of Ancillary Justice

"On A Sunbeam strikes a magical balance between trippy and tangible, heartbreaking and hilarious. It was so easy to curl up in the art and lose myself in the story." --Becky Chambers, author of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

Publisher: First Second

Pub date: 2018-10-02

Length: 544 pages