The National Year of Reading campaign encourages children and young people to get into reading by seeking out stories, information and content about what they're interested in, whether that's films, food, singing or skateboarding.
Author Brandon Dumais and the award-winning illustrator of In Waves, AJ Dungo recently teamed up to create Skating Wilder. This YA graphic novel about the skateboarding community Brandon and AJ grew up in during the 1990s in California feels like a perfectly timed title - accessible, engaging and embodying the #GoAllIn spirit.
We're lucky to share this exclusive Q and A, in which Brandon and AJ talk about some of the things the graphic novel celebrates and their journey to collaborating:
Skating Wilder is a graphic novel about skateboarding, friendship, and so much more. Where did the idea to create something like this come from?
AJ: After I had written In Waves, I was asked if I would be interested in making a book about skateboarding. I thought about it and realized that I would love to work on this with one of my best friends. Brandon is a brilliant writer; we grew up skating together and collaborating through music and zines all through our teen years. Growing up he was always teaching me about different scenes in skateboarding, music, and film. So, I thought why not get some knowledge straight from the source. My illustrations plus his encyclopaedic knowledge of skating combined with our passion for comics was the ultimate collab.
Brandon: AJ plucked me out of obscurity to write a skateboarding graphic novel with him because he's a generous friend and apparent risk-taker. All I could do was approach skateboarding through our relationship to it as lifelong fans.
Why was it important to capture the community, friendships, and ‘outsiders’ at the heart of Skating Wilder?
AJ: Because at its heart, that is what skateboarding is to us but historically also what it has been to kids all over the world. Freaks, geeks, anyone who feels that they don’t belong have found a home in the skateboarding community. We’re all nerds at the end of the day. Friends playing with a piece of wood with wheels.
Brandon: Those aspects define skateboarding for us. Community is the catalyst for its evolution. Friendship is synonymous with our experiences with it and its outsiderness has been so integral to our appreciation of it. I don't think I could have written about skateboarding without centering those attributes.
What did you want to celebrate with Skating Wilder?
AJ: Brandon’s thesis is that the youth is the truth. All progress, innovation, style is largely dictated by the kids and everyone else is chasing them. I personally want to celebrate the beauty of skateboarding as a passport and time machine; you can connect with anyone in the world with it and you can recreate the joy and freedom we felt as kids. If you skate, have skated, or want to skate, you belong.
Brandon: Skateboarding, or at least what we love about it. To quote Kyle Beachy, it really is "the most fun thing."
Why are you drawn toward graphic novels? Especially to tell a story like this one?
AJ: We love comics. We used to self-publish our own zines and comics, so this is like a dream come true.
Brandon: Even beyond the graphics, skateboarding is such a visual medium. I appreciate people writing about it, but it's hard to convey in text alone, so a graphic novel is a great way to write about skating while capturing the impact of what seeing it feels like. And AJ has such a talent for depicting motion and the essence of that feeling.
Brandon, you are the author of Skating Wilder – what is the process like for writing for a graphic novel? AJ, you are the illustrator – how does the process differ from being an author and illustrator? How was it working together?
AJ: Working together felt like riding a bike; easy, familiar, and so fun. Sharing the load of a project this big was nice. Writing books is a lonely endeavour but having a friend by your side that has your back is awesome. We have a long history of making stuff together: writing music, assembling zines, drawing comics. I’m grateful that Brandon was down to join me on this long journey.
Brandon: Technically, I approached it like a movie script, with shot descriptions and slug lines, etc. I love working with AJ. Our friendship spans over 20 years, a lot spent talking about skating and comics, so I knew he'd understand what I was going for. I didn't expect him to be so consistently dead-on though. He can read my mind and make it beautiful, which is a tall order.
What advice would you have for young people today about skateboarding or creativity?
AJ: Do it with your friends. You won’t regret it.
Brandon: For skating and art, by trying it you're already doing it. So just go for it.
Skating Wilder flies through skateboarding’s weird history, and grinds through AJ and Brandon’s best (and worst) skateboarding memories. They’re not experts, but they know how much this sport means to the communities that have embraced it and made it their own. Find out more.