Token by Alisa Kwitney

My grandparents told me to stop or I’d go blind, but I didn’t care: I loved reading comics too much to give them up. During summer vacations, when I was stuck eating fresh baked bread and homemade soup in my grandparents’ summer cabin in the Catskills, my uncle would send me care packages filled with chocolate, candy…and comics. Betty and Veronica, with their eternal rivalry and their eerily identical faces. True Romance, with its oddly old-fashioned morality tales. House of Mystery, with its cantankerous host, who sneered at the audience in asides.

At age thirteen, I was visiting my uncle’s house when I discovered that my cousin Lynn had given up comics for Harlequin Romances. Desperate for some escapist reading, I tried one, and before I knew it, I was hooked, eventually moving from tales of British secretaries and Arab sheiks to historicals.

Yet unlike cousin Lynn, I never stopped loving comics. For a long time, though, it seemed as if my two worlds would never meet. Comics fans looked down at romance novels. Romance novelists defended the genre by saying, “It’s not as though we’re writings comics!”

I wrote Token using everything I know about comics and everything I know about romance. Hope you enjoy it – and don’t worry, it won’t make you go blind.

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Book News

Token was featured in the November 2008 issue of Romantic Times BOOKReviews magazine. View the article by clicking on the thumbnail below. (A pop-up window will appear.)

"The Minx line of girl-themed graphic novels ends with its best book... While the story is alternately touching and thought provoking, Jones's art is simply astounding. Her characters' expressions and attitudes are perfect in every panel to convey the emotion underlying the text. People are attractive—you want to keep your eyes on them—without being glossy or artificial. The story, while following the “life-changing turning point” focus of the Minx line, is more subtle and mature than many others. Shira's learning to make her own choices and let go of her father to have his own life, and she comes out the stronger for it."

- Publishers Weekly

"There are two books in Alisa Kwitney’s Token: one is the utterly charming portrayal of a teen girl’s summer romance in the heat of Miami Beach, as portrayed by my new favorite artist, Joelle Jones; the other is an insightful analysis of the unfathomable human heart, at once compassionate and wickedly blunt. Yes, Kwitney is that good. Please tell me this isn't the only book we'll see about the irrepressible Shira Spektor."

- Terry Moore, Award winning author of Strangers in Paradise and Echo

"Shira lives in a Miami hotel with her widowed father and her grandmother. When Shira’s father begins to date his secretary and their relationship turns serious, Shira has trouble accepting how he is changing. And, for his part, her father can’t communicate as well with an almost 16-year-old Shira as he could when she was just a little girl. Shira turns to petty shoplifting and the arms of a mysterious Spanish boy to cope with her feelings. All the ingredients of a standard—and credible—YA problem novel are here, but Kwitney’s script and Jones’ expressive black-and-white art make the story fresh and worth the quick reading time. Relationships are authentic, and both adults and teens evidence a true depth of character. The sadly soon-to-be discontinued Minx line again upholds its standard of well-crafted and original work..."

- Francisca Goldsmith, Booklist

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Read an excerpt online! Simply click on the big image below and a new window will open. Follow the next buttons or click on thumbnails to read the excerpt. Then check out the script pages for Shira and Rafael's first kiss scene.

Like it? Order it!

Want to see what the comic book script looked like, and how it compares with the finished art? Check out the script pages for Shira and Rafael's first kiss scene.

PAGE SEVENTY SIX

Panel One: Pull back, just a little, to show Shira, looking around as she stuffs the scarf down her shirt. Probably a shot from just below her chest.

No dialogue.

Panel Two: Pull further back to show Shira, head down, looking guilty, walking toward the door of the store.

No dialogue.

Panel three: A medium shot from the outside, of Shira exiting the Woolworth’s, head down.

No dialogue.

Panel Four: Shira turning to look over her shoulder, very surprised, yelping.

Off: Pa-thetic.

Shira: Eep!

PAGE SEVENTY SEVEN

Panel One: A medium shot. Shira and Rafael (of course, he’s the voice from off panel last page) are standing on the pedestrian mall. There is a little fountain near them, maybe a bench or two, a lamppost and a potted palm tree. I’ll try to find ref, but you can also wing it a bit, it doesn’t need to be exact.

Shira, one hand pressed to her chest as if to still her pounding heart (but also to conceal the scarf hidden there) is looking at Rafael, who is leaning against a lamppost, his arms folded on his chest, chin down, regarding her with cynical amusement. He is wearing a dark tee shirt, maybe with the sleeves rolled up, so we can see his muscular shoulders, jeans, dark sneakers.

Shira: Excuse me, I…you startled me.

Rafael: I’ll bet.

Panel Two: Shira, suddenly placing who this is, and relaxing her guard, putting her hand down.

Shira: Wait, don’t I know you? We met at the pool…

Panel Three: Rafael, over Shira’s shoulder, looking irritated and not so amused.

Rafael: Yes. And for some reason, the pool guy thought that I might be trouble.

Panel four: Rafael, reaching his hand just a little down the front of Shira’s shirt as she reacts in shock.

Rafael: But really, he should have kept his eyes on you.

Shira: Hey, what are you – stop that!

PAGE SEVENTY EIGHT

Panel One: A sexy shot of Rafael, raising one eyebrow as he pulls the scarf out from between Shira’s breasts. She is completely embarrassed, blushing like crazy. There is only a second between this panel and the one previous.

Rafael: Very pretty. The pink matches your cheeks.

Panel two: Shira, trying to snatch the scarf back, flustered. Rafael, dangling it just out of reach, toying with her.

Shira: Cut it out!

Rafael: Ah, you have to move a little quicker that that.

Panel three: Shira, angry and embarrassed, arms folded under her breasts. Rafael, looking at her, head cocked to one side, no longer dangling the scarf.

Shira: Fine. I didn’t really want it, anyway.

Rafael: Really? Then perhaps I will keep it.

Panel four: Close up of Rafael, darkly seductive, putting the scarf up in front of his nose, smelling it.

Rafael: It smells of you.

PAGE SEVENTY NINE

Panel One: Shira, angrily trying to snatch the scarf back, Rafael holding it away. He’s got nice biceps. This is a rather sexy-looking tug-of-war, and Shira’s the one who’s off balance.

Shira: Don’t be disgusting!

Panel Two: Rafael has managed to wrap the scarf around Shira’s wrists, effectively immobilizing her. She is a little frightened, but still angry. He is calm, smiling a little.

Rafael: Ah-ah-ah. You need to have fast hands to be a thief.

Shira: You’d better let me go this instant, or I’ll…

Panel three: A shot of Rafael from over Shira’s shoulder, amused and very close. This is fighting as flirtation, even though Shira doesn’t quite understand it yet.

Rafael: Or you’ll what?

Panel four: A shot of Shira from over Rafael’s shoulder, smiling a little grimly.

Shira: I’ll scream.

PAGE EIGHTY

Panel One: Pull back to show Rafael, gesturing with one hand at the almost empty streets. Off to one side, in the background, there is one old lady, with a walker, going across the street. She should start out on the far side of the street, further from them – I’m imagining her on their left. Rafi’s other hand is still holding on to the scarf around Shira’s wrists in front of her. Shira looks determined.

Rafael: Go ahead. But who will hear? I don’t think that old lady’s hearing aid is turned up that high.

Panel two: Pull back to show Shira, coolly raising her chin, the proud hostage. She isn’t really angry or frightened anymore. She understands on some level that this is flirting. Rafael is attentive, even respectful, granting her the point. The old lady is closer to them now, to their left and almost level with them. She might be halfway across the street.

Shira: You don’t know how loud I can be.

Rafael: True.

Panel three: Rafael, leaning in, almost as if to kiss, but whispering in her ear, instead. She looks startled.

Rafael: Let’s find out.

Panel four: A fairly close shot of Rafael and Shira. She is screaming her head off, with very calm eyes and something challenging about her body posture and head position. He looks startled.

Shira: Aaaeeeiiighhh!!!

PAGE EIGHTY ONE

Panel One: Close up. Rafael, leaning in, is kissing Shira to shut her up, but it is a sexy, romantic moment. His eyes are closed. Hers are open. Now she looks startled.

Shira: Mmmph.

Panel Two: Pull back to show the old lady, blithely walking across the street, very close to them, not noticing a thing. Now Rafael’s eyes are open, tracking the old lady as she walks away, closer to us, and Shira’s are closed.

Caption: Maybe he’s kissing me to shut me up, but I don’t care.

Panel Three: The old lady is closer to us now, the kissing couple are in the background, and they’ve both got their eyes closed now. It’s still a gentle kiss, but it’s deepened, and it’s clearly mutual now.

Caption: All I can say is, he is definitely not chopped liver.

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Find out more about TOKEN and other MINX
graphic novels at www.minxbooks.net.

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