She's Roxanne!
She’s Roxanne! is a series of graphic novels to help youngsters begin the process of developing life skills and exploring some of the difficult social issues of their age group and of our time. The purpose of the series is to help smooth young peoples’ eventual transition into college, adulthood, and independence. That pop of color in the exclamation point is a reflection of Roxanne's colorful personality. She thinks of herself as a "front seat dog"--a cool kid who is sometimes taken with her own importance--but in reality is kind, caring, fun to be with, and occasionally suffers from anxiety.
My leading lady has served as my muse throughout this project. Roxanne is part husky and part cattle dog, we think. We adopted her at the age of one and a half and now, as an older woman of 11, she continues to provide inspiration.
Before I turned She's Roxanne! into a graphic novel, it was meant to be a video series. Please enjoy the demo video below. And don't forget to turn up the volume!
What's Next for Roxanne!
Book 1: What do you do when you suffer from anxiety and you're about to become the New Dog in School?
Book 2: Miss Edna clears up some misperceptions the students have about college and explains a bit of what students can expect from college.
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Book 3: Always thinking ahead, Roxanne tries to get a job to save money for college. She learns that punctuality, creativity, dependability, and preparation are critical in the work world.
Book 4: Roxanne’s anxiety kicks in during a school trip to the beach but she learns some techniques for keeping it under control.
Book 5: Roxanne and her friend Newt help Miss Edna make Wig and Wag School accessible for students who use wheelchairs.
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Book 6: Roxanne finds the anticipation of surgery to be very stressful but learns that the medical professionals will take good care of her.
Book 7: In the first of a two-part series, the Wig and Wag School camping trip brings some students’ deeply held secrets to the surface.
Book 8: In part two, with Roxanne’s encouragement, two students reveal their secrets—one would like to transition to female and the other has an incarcerated parent—to a very accepting class.
Book 9: Carter and King are found vaping and smoking behind the school and are required to make a class presentation on the dangers of these activities.
Book 10: Roxanne is the victim of unwanted touching and learns that it was not her fault.
Book 11: Tuna's grades drastically improve and the class learns that, although incarcerated, her mom is in a prisoner education program that gives her the knowledge to tutor Tuna and will lead to her college degree.
Book 12: The students learn about healthy eating and make some mischief while visiting a local grocery store.