Mike Curato: Hi, my name is Mike Curato and I'm the author-illustrator of Flamer. Flamer is a YA graphic novel about Aiden Navarro, who is a fourteen-year-old Filipino/white mixed kid, who is away at a scout camp, the summer before his first year of high school. Aiden is dealing with a lot of things, ranging from friendship to bullying and how those can overlap. He's got questions about his religion. He's dealing with body image issues and racism and all that is the backdrop to Aiden confronting his sexual identity. I chose to write this story because, even though it's a work of fiction, it's very much rooted in my own experience. And I did not have a book like this when I was fourteen. I didn't see myself in books or on screen. And I thought it would be really important for people like me to be able to see themselves in a book. And for people who aren't like me to be able to read this book and try to understand what it's like being a queer chubby person of color as a teenager in this country.

If you're familiar with my picture books, you might notice that the artwork in Flamer is a bit of a departure. I really wanted to find an artistic style that reflected the rawness of the story. So, I did a lot of experimenting with different mediums. I knew very early on that I wanted the book to be black and white with spots of color. And, when you're reading Flamer, you'll notice that there is, of course, a theme of fire throughout the book. So, whenever there are instances of fire, that is in color, as well as different inanimate objects. And I want to point out to the viewer, the color's also used to evoke different emotions, like fear and love. I really like how most of the imagery is black and white. I think that the subject matter really lends itself to black and white and the really limited use of color can really help punctuate important moments throughout the book.

I think that overall the use of color really does add an extra layer of meaning to the book that I'm really happy with. Something that I hope that any reader will take away from the book is that as human beings, we are multifaceted. And sometimes we have different parts of our identity that are in conflict with each other. A lot of inner conflicts that we face growing up are trying to reconcile these different parts of ourselves. So, I want people to maybe give themselves a little compassion when they are trying to figure out who they are. Sometimes there are parts of ourselves that aren't accepted by other people. And whether or not that's true, everybody deserves to be in this world.

An important reason for writing this book is that queer youth are at a higher risk of suicide, self-harm, and homelessness, which makes it even more pertinent that they see themselves in a book. And I hope that the book serves as a lifeline for those readers until they're able to find their own community and a safe space in this world.