Pass Me By: Lily
$11.99 – $65.00
PRE-ORDER for MARCH 19th 2025 PUBLICATION
“Pass Me By feels like something David Bowie would have created if he made comics instead of music: original. Ahead of its time. Utterly addictive.” – The Comics Journal
Exploring family, loss, tragedy, identity, and self-discovery, the third book in the award winning Pass Me By series, Lily, is a heartfelt tale about how our stories carry through time, and how we come to terms with change.
17 year old trans girl Lily, visits her estranged grandfather Ed, as he struggles with his rapidly developing Alzheimers. Lily too, faces struggles of her own.
ISBN: 9781989754306
Dimensions: 6"x 9"
Page Count: 272
Release Date: 03/19/2025
Genre:
Description
2022 ALBERTA BOOK AWARDS ‘GRAPHIC NOVEL OF THE YEAR’
BOOK 2 IN THE AWARD-WINNING SERIES ‘PASS ME BY’
A romantic coming-of-age story about understanding queer identity and what happens to the stories you never tell.
This five-book series follows Ed, a reserved man dealing with dementia in a small northern Canadian town. As Ed’s memory declines, he loses touch with the present and revisits a past he chose to forget. The first book, Gone Fishin’ introduced us to Ed in the early stages of his diagnosis. The story used humour and melancholy in equal measure to explore Ed’s deeply human struggle.
Ed’s granddaughter, Lily, arrives in Ed’s life for the first time in a long time. Forcing both of them to acknowledge and address the changes they are both experiencing. Ed’s dementia is accelerating, robbing him of more of his now, and sending him increasingly into his past. A past of self-discovery, glam-music and exhilarating live performances.
Lily has been forced from her home in the city to stay with a grandpa she doesn’t know, in a small town of strangers, whilst dealing not only with transitioning but the pain of rejection for just being herself.
Despite their struggles, Lily and Ed have an opportunity to get to really know each other, if they can find a way to really connect.
Exploring family, loss, tragedy, identity, and self-discovery, the 3rd book in the award winning Pass Me By series, Lily, is a heartfelt tale about how our stories carry through time, and how we come to terms with change.
Praise for the Pass Me By Series:
“If anybody is wondering what the next generation of comics should and does look like, look no further than Pass Me By… Pass Me By feels like something David Bowie would have created if he made comics instead of music: original. Ahead of its time. Utterly addictive.”
Irene Velentzas – The Comics Journal
Featured in CBC Books’ 21 Canadian comics to watch out for in Fall 2021
Everyone needs to be paying attention to the work of Kat Simmers and Ryan Danny Owen. These Calgary-based creators are making remarkable graphic novels that are just about as good as the medium can be. Seriously: this is astonishing stuff.
“Electric Vice” is the second book in the “Pass Me By” series but works as a stand-alone. It offers an origin story of sorts for main character Ed, whom we met in “Pass Me By: Gone Fishin’,” and is struggling with age, dementia and fading memories of a career in music. This is the story of Electric Vice, simultaneously a glam rock band and a life-changing experience for Ed.
It’s an important book, addressing queer issues in a story of love and identities. But its real strength is its craft: illustration, layouts, pacing, dialogue, palette and more are all top-level work. This series should win awards.
Mike Donachie, Toronto Star Newspaper
Watch the author event with Kat & Ryan hosted by Shelf Life Books & Shea Proulx here on youtube
Reviews for Pass Me By: Gone Fishin’:
“An inverted coming of age story about understanding queer identity and what happens to the stories you never tell.”
Stephanie Chan, Smash Pages
“The publisher calls it “a queer, rural, Canadian, romantic tragedy.” I call it delightful. It’s gorgeous, clever and perfectly paced, with fully formed characters from the first panel.”
Mike Donachie, Toronto Star
“This could likely be one of the strongest literary works regarding queer romance ever published.”
Keven Skinner, Fox Force Five
“The pages are heavy with emotion that’s simmering just underneath the surface. I’m really excited to see where this goes.”
The Turnaround Blog, Pride Month: Graphic Novel Reading
About the creators:
Kat Simmers is a trans woman, artist, author, and muralist working in comic media and street art to create community connections through visual media. Born and raised in a special kind of nowhere – Bashaw, Alberta (pop. 830) – Simmers experienced firsthand the intersection of queer and rural life. Her public works populate the Treaty 6 & 7 region in Mohkinstsis (the city of Calgary), the city of Red Deer, the town of Bashaw, and the walls of the international mural festival BUMP in 2019 & 2020.
Ryan Danny Owen is a non-binary author, visual artist, drag performer, and queer historian based in Mohkinstsis Treaty 7/ Calgary, Alberta. Their work has been exhibited across Canada and they have written for and been included in various publications from Stride Gallery, and Luma Quarterly, to Raw Meat Collective. Owen also runs an online queer archive, Mirrors & Windows, featuring a collection of found queer photographs from the early 50s to late 90s.
Additional information
| Options | Softcover, Digital download, 3 book deal |
|---|
Description
2022 ALBERTA BOOK AWARDS ‘GRAPHIC NOVEL OF THE YEAR’
BOOK 2 IN THE AWARD-WINNING SERIES ‘PASS ME BY’
A romantic coming-of-age story about understanding queer identity and what happens to the stories you never tell.
This five-book series follows Ed, a reserved man dealing with dementia in a small northern Canadian town. As Ed’s memory declines, he loses touch with the present and revisits a past he chose to forget. The first book, Gone Fishin’ introduced us to Ed in the early stages of his diagnosis. The story used humour and melancholy in equal measure to explore Ed’s deeply human struggle.
Ed’s granddaughter, Lily, arrives in Ed’s life for the first time in a long time. Forcing both of them to acknowledge and address the changes they are both experiencing. Ed’s dementia is accelerating, robbing him of more of his now, and sending him increasingly into his past. A past of self-discovery, glam-music and exhilarating live performances.
Lily has been forced from her home in the city to stay with a grandpa she doesn’t know, in a small town of strangers, whilst dealing not only with transitioning but the pain of rejection for just being herself.
Despite their struggles, Lily and Ed have an opportunity to get to really know each other, if they can find a way to really connect.
Exploring family, loss, tragedy, identity, and self-discovery, the 3rd book in the award winning Pass Me By series, Lily, is a heartfelt tale about how our stories carry through time, and how we come to terms with change.
Praise for the Pass Me By Series:
“If anybody is wondering what the next generation of comics should and does look like, look no further than Pass Me By… Pass Me By feels like something David Bowie would have created if he made comics instead of music: original. Ahead of its time. Utterly addictive.”
Irene Velentzas – The Comics Journal
Featured in CBC Books’ 21 Canadian comics to watch out for in Fall 2021
Everyone needs to be paying attention to the work of Kat Simmers and Ryan Danny Owen. These Calgary-based creators are making remarkable graphic novels that are just about as good as the medium can be. Seriously: this is astonishing stuff.
“Electric Vice” is the second book in the “Pass Me By” series but works as a stand-alone. It offers an origin story of sorts for main character Ed, whom we met in “Pass Me By: Gone Fishin’,” and is struggling with age, dementia and fading memories of a career in music. This is the story of Electric Vice, simultaneously a glam rock band and a life-changing experience for Ed.
It’s an important book, addressing queer issues in a story of love and identities. But its real strength is its craft: illustration, layouts, pacing, dialogue, palette and more are all top-level work. This series should win awards.
Mike Donachie, Toronto Star Newspaper
Watch the author event with Kat & Ryan hosted by Shelf Life Books & Shea Proulx here on youtube
Reviews for Pass Me By: Gone Fishin’:
“An inverted coming of age story about understanding queer identity and what happens to the stories you never tell.”
Stephanie Chan, Smash Pages
“The publisher calls it “a queer, rural, Canadian, romantic tragedy.” I call it delightful. It’s gorgeous, clever and perfectly paced, with fully formed characters from the first panel.”
Mike Donachie, Toronto Star
“This could likely be one of the strongest literary works regarding queer romance ever published.”
Keven Skinner, Fox Force Five
“The pages are heavy with emotion that’s simmering just underneath the surface. I’m really excited to see where this goes.”
The Turnaround Blog, Pride Month: Graphic Novel Reading
About the creators:
Kat Simmers is a trans woman, artist, author, and muralist working in comic media and street art to create community connections through visual media. Born and raised in a special kind of nowhere – Bashaw, Alberta (pop. 830) – Simmers experienced firsthand the intersection of queer and rural life. Her public works populate the Treaty 6 & 7 region in Mohkinstsis (the city of Calgary), the city of Red Deer, the town of Bashaw, and the walls of the international mural festival BUMP in 2019 & 2020.
Ryan Danny Owen is a non-binary author, visual artist, drag performer, and queer historian based in Mohkinstsis Treaty 7/ Calgary, Alberta. Their work has been exhibited across Canada and they have written for and been included in various publications from Stride Gallery, and Luma Quarterly, to Raw Meat Collective. Owen also runs an online queer archive, Mirrors & Windows, featuring a collection of found queer photographs from the early 50s to late 90s.
Additional information
| Options | Softcover, Digital download, 3 book deal |
|---|
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