Cartoonist Whitney Gardner returns with another speculative middle grade graphic novel in Free Piano (Not Haunted). When young Margot stumbles upon a broken keyboard marked “Free Piano (Not Haunted),” she hauls it home—only to discover that it is indeed haunted—by Vision, the ghost of a 1980s pop star. Despite Vision being an uninvited guest in Margot’s home, the girl forges an unlikely friendship with the spirit, who helps her navigate feelings of abandonment from her fame-chasing father, low-key resentment toward her overworked mother, jealousy over a friend’s creative success, and her own growing desire for artistic validation. Gardner spoke with PW about how her work has changed over the years, being taken seriously as a children’s book creator, and injecting fun into every endeavor.
Your debut graphic novel, Fake Blood, tackled vampires, Long Distance dealt with aliens, and Free Piano (Not Haunted) centers ghosts. Why are you drawn to viewing adolescent challenges through a supernatural lens?
When I think about the books I was drawn to as a kid, they all had elements of fantasy, of magic, of things that weren’t 100% grounded in the real world. As a kid, I liked the idea that there was a possibility of something more out there for me. So when I thought about writing books about the challenges I had growing up, or that I saw my students struggling with when I was a school librarian, I thought instead of writing this straight as just a tale of a person who’s going through this hard thing, it would be so much more fun if the person struggling with this had help, or a way to grapple with these situations that wasn’t quite as grounded in reality.
Why did you make Vision a 1980s popstar as opposed to a contemporary musician, or an artist more closely related to Margot’s beloved ukelele?
I saw a Craigslist ad for a piano that said, “Free piano (not haunted),” and I thought, “There’s a story there.” Because when you see something labeled “not haunted,” your immediate thought is, “I don’t believe that for a second.”
When I sat down to start writing, I kept thinking about what kind of piano it was going to be, and what kind of music they were going to talk about. I originally thought probably what most people think about when they learn about a haunted piano—a stand-up, old wood piano that would have some sort of Victorian ghost inside of it, and everything about it would be very serious. But as I started to go down that avenue, it wasn’t as interesting to me. I thought, “Maybe the ghost thing isn’t my cup of tea.” I remember venting and being frustrated and saying things like, “I wish it could just be something fun, like a Casio keyboard with an ’80s ghost inside.”
After I decided to make the piano a Prophet-5 keyboard—which is the synthesizer that John Carpenter uses in all his horror movies—I was off to the races. It was much more fun and exciting for me to write a ghost with big hair using 1980s slang.
How did you balance Margot’s seeking approval and creative validation with pursuing her genuine passion for music?
Margot has been around music her whole life. Her dad is a musician; not a famous one, but he wants to be. Margot plays the ukulele and she’s good at it. There are posters in her room of musicians who write parody music, like Weird Al and They Might Be Giants. She even writes similar goofy songs for herself. When she sees her dad go off to chase fame and her friend starts getting lots of followers on social media, she decides that her songs are not what’s going to get her fame and followers. She’s like, “I have to start being more serious.” That’s when she decides to make the switch to piano.
I feel like I hear a similar refrain all the time: When are you going to write a serious book? When are you going to write books for adults? So it’s something that I have struggled with too, because I don’t want to give up my silly little children’s books. It’s what I love making! I wanted Margot to learn that she could keep doing her silly things, just because that’s what brings her joy.
How have your comics skills evolved since working on Fake Blood?
I used to be really stressed out about wanting all my books to look the same, like they were all done by the same author, they all belong together, they all look very clean and professional. And it’s not that my books don’t. But I draw more and more every day. Hours and hours of my day are just spent drawing. Obviously, my drawing is going to get better. So now I think it’s very cool to look back and see how different each book is, how my style has evolved. I like to think kids who read my books will say, “She used to draw like this, and now she draws like this. Maybe, if I draw every day, I can get better, too.”
People nowadays want to use AI to get really good at art, really fast. But you don’t need AI to get good at art. All you have to do is start drawing, and eventually you’re going to get better and better and better, and you’re going to feel so much prouder knowing how much you’ve worked to hone your craft.
What is the most challenging or exciting aspect of the graphic novel making process for you?
I feel like each step of making graphic novels is challenging. It’s a very long process and you’re working on these books for a long time. You have to spend a lot of time looking at the same characters over and over and over again. Sometimes there’s not a lot of novelty after a while.
But I find little pieces of every step that light me up a little bit. While writing the script, there’s such a spark of discovery when you’re figuring out what the story is, and then when it’s time to add color to the book, you see it come to life for the first time. Everything starts to look very real and polished and beautiful. Coloring is always a joy because I’m working in a custom coloring book that I created, which is kind of cool. That last, final push at the end tends to be the most satisfying.
What’s next for you?
Let’s just say that Bigfoot has been on my mind a lot lately.
Free Piano (Not Haunted) by Whitney Gardner. Simon & Schuster, $23.99 July 1 ISBN 978-1-6659-3813-6; $13.99 paper ISBN 978-1-6659-3812-9
