Anybody who would put you in a corner like that is not a friend. Rose obvioulsy choses dance, and I loved her for it.

Her supposed best friend gets jealous and forces Rose to make a choice: Her friendship or dance. In the beginning Rose is in a pretty miserable place, even if she did get into a school where she can do what she loves, it weighs heavy on her that she's alone.

One day that all changes when the Russian girl, Yrena, decides to bridge the gap and climbs into Rose's bedroom. In all reality she doesn't know much about her but since she can see her into her room she feels a kind a thin line of connection with her. Right next door to Rose is a Russian girl. It's hard for her to fully embrace that though because chasing her dream has proved to cost her a lot. She splits her time between the heart and the head and lives north and south of everything. The Year of the Beasts was a finalist for the PEN USA literary award and Odd Duck was Eisner nominated. She is the recipient of the California Book Award Gold Medal for her picture book Grandma's Gloves, illustrated by Julia Denos, the Shuster Award for Best Canadian Comic Book Writer for The Plain Janes and the Sunburst Award for Tin Star. Her short stories have been published in various places including Black Clock, The Rattling Wall, Tor.com, Strange Horizons, Apex Magazine and can be found in such anthologies such as After, Teeth, Truth & Dare, The Eternal Kiss, Sideshow and Interfictions 2 and the anthology, which she co-edited, Geektastic. Titles include Boy Proof, The Year of the Beasts (illustrated by Nate Powell), First Day on Earth, Rose Sees Red, Beige, The Queen of Cool The Plain Janes and Janes in Love (illustrated by Jim Rugg), Tin Star Stone in the Sky, Odd Duck (illustrated by Sara Varon) and Star Wars: Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure. Cecil Castellucci is an author of young adult novels and comic books.

Rose Sees Red by Cecil Castellucci