Hybred: A Graphic Novel
PUBLICATION DATE: November 2025
6.75” X 9”
144 PAGES
Trade paperback
ISBN: 9781951491437
EBOOK ISBN:
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List Price
US $20.99
What People Are Saying
“A surreal story imbued with an unnerving glow. It’s about art and escape, possibilities and pain and it lingers with you long after you read it, like a dream.” —Badiucao and Melissa Chan, authors of You Must Take Part in Revolution
“With expansive world building, evocative prose, and unflinching, futuristic artwork, this book is a heart-wrenching exploration of the life-saving power of art.” —Maria Sweeney, author of Brittle Joints
“Review to come.” —
“Review to come.”—
Synopsis
Set in a future-adjacent, alternative Los Angeles, this is a story of staggering poverty, drugs, and violence and of an artistic child who finds beauty in the ugly and sublime hope in our conflicts.
HYBRED shows us how in our most marginalized communities lies an astonishing amount of genius which goes unnoticed and is so often tragically wasted.
Nine-year-old Johnny James lives in The Casque, the poorest neighborhood in Greater Angeles, where he shares a one-room apartment with his mother, stepfather, two brothers, and an army of cockroaches. He spends his days in the sweltering heat of the neighborhood, at the movie theaters, playing tackleball, or drawing – but there’s no money for him to go to school.
As death, addiction, and violence swirl through the neighborhood, Johnny grows up with friends, adventures, and magic around him. And he discovers how to use art, beauty, and personal strength to transcend the forces destined to hold him back.
About the Author
Jamie Mustard is an artist, a futurist, and a writer with a focus on perception in the physical world. Growing up in severe poverty and illiteracy in inner city Los Angeles, Jamie overcame obstacles to graduate from the London School of Economics. He currently works as a strategic multi-media consultant, teacher, interdisciplinary art, design, and product futurist. He is the winner of The National Indie Excellence Award as well as the OWL Outstanding Works in Literature Award for his book, The Iconist. And his memoir Child X is being published in July 2025 by BenBella Books.
Francesca Filomena is an Italian artist working internationally in design and print. She studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Leece, Italy and won first prize at the International Red Paper Kite Illustration competition in 2020. Francesca is the illustrator of the picture books Hoping for You, Aster, The Wire, and The Girl Who Was Nearly a Flower.
