Available Formats
Paperback
Published: 2nd September 2020
Hardback
Published: 1st October 2020
Hardback
Published: 14th May 2025
Paperback
Published: 2nd July 2025
Beetle & the Chimera Carnival
By (Author) Aliza Layne
Illustrated by Aliza Layne
Simon & Schuster
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
14th May 2025
United States
Children
Fiction
Childrens / Teenage fiction: Friendship stories
Childrens / Teenage personal and social topics: Friends and friendships
Childrens / Teenage personal and social topics: Dating, relationships, romance a
741.5973
Hardback
384
Width 152mm, Height 229mm, Spine 28mm
982g
Beetle and her friends attend a carnival full of dragons and magic, only to discover something sinister at play behind the scenes, in this delightful sequel to the Stonewall Honorwinning Beetle & the Hollowbones middle grade graphic novel.
Hidden behind the clouds, giant dragons guard the most powerful magic in the world from prying eyes. On one magical night, once every ten years, these leviathans reveal themselves to a fanfare of costumes, music, and parades in the Chimera Carnival.
But this time, somethings wrong.
When Beetle, Penny, and Kat decide to check out the empty carnival site one night, they discover an injured dragon screaming for help. And the more Beetle uncovers about the Chimera Carnival, the more sinister it gets. Dragons who arrive for the early festivities disappear without a trace. Beetles magic begins to go haywire. And Kats parents come back to town, worrying both girls about whether they have a future together.
In the catacombs beneath the demolished Allowstown mall, something hungers for dragon magic. And Beetle and her friends are already more entwined with it than they could possibly imagine.
Aliza Layne was raised by two married dogs but is now a cat. She makes monsters and goblins and Halloween costumes in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, where she lives with her gay friends.Beetle & the Hollowbones, her first graphic novel, was a Stonewall Honor Book. Find more of her work for adults and kids at AlizaLayne.com.