Great news for the kids who will be attending the Toronto Comic Arts Festival this weekend. Colleen AF Venable, the fantastic author of the highly entertaining series Guinea PIG, Pet Shop Private Eye will be making an appearance and participating in an array of kid events there. Colleen will speak on a book design panel (her fans may not know this, but Colleen designs graphic novels at her day job). She’ll also give a live reading for the Carousel cartoon slide show, judge a comic costume contest, and lead a cartooning workshop.

The amazing thing about Coleen and her Guinea Pig books is that they strike the perfect balance of cleverness, humor, and mystery. Colleen has garnered a whole cadre of enthusiastic kids and kids-at-heart who have been captivated by the adventures of the lovable Hamisher and capable Sasspants. No doubt she will be a hit this weekend at TCAF.

Speaking of captivated audiences, it appears the judges at Young Adult Library Services Association were similarly enthralled by another great Graphic Universe series called My Boyfriend Is a Monster and specifically the title I Love Him to Pieces by Evonne Tsang and Janina Gorrissen. The funny, offbeat and suspenseful teen romance series about girls who date boys who happen to be monsters (not figuratively but literally) has just been nominated for the coveted YALSA 2012 Great Graphic Novels for Teens Award in the fiction category. We wish them all the best of luck!