Over the course of 140 pages, Cabot encompasses and breaks down so much of Dinah's character without the story losing its upbeat tone or becoming inaccessible ti young readers. With nearly two decades in the business of young adult storytelling and a large body of work about female protagonists, Cabot feels like an inspired choice to bring Dinah's story to life. This plan is complicated by how her fiercely protective parents and her school principal's criticisms of being 'too loud.' After a string of mysterious events and the arrival of a masked villain, Dinah begins to learn the truth about herself and her family legacy-and may save her world in the process.

'I was always told as a kid that I was much too loud and needed to be quiet,' Cabot tells Bustle, noting that things haven't changed completely since she was Dinah Lance's age: 'Every time a woman speaks up they're just totally bombarded with negative messaging, and I think that's so important that we tell girls it's okay to be loud and speak out.Ignite opens on a thirteen-year-old Dinah Lance, a Gotham City Junior High student who hopes to juggle joining the Junior Police Academy and singing in a band with her friends. Dinah Drake and her husband, Gotham City police officer Larry Lance, had a daughter, also named Dinah, who inherited her mother's superpower and alter-ego, and it is this younger Black Canary who stands at the center of Meg Cabot's new graphic novel.ĭinah Lance's story will be familiar to any woman or girl who has ever been told that she's tool loud, brash, and disruptive for this world.

Later comics saw Dinah Drake's powers change from hand-to-hand combat to the 'canary cry,' an ultrasonic feature of her voice, which she can use to disrupt and dispatch all manner of bad guys as a member of the Justice League. Dinah Drake's Black Canary first appeared in 1947, in Flash Comics No. In case you aren't a Black Canary fan, here's a brief rundown of the character. Bustle has all the details, straight from Meg Cabot, as well as exclusive interior images from the new book. Meg Cabot is writing a Black Canary book with Over the Garden Wall artist Cara McGee, out on Nov. There's good news on the horizon for anyone who grew up loving The Princess Diaries and DC Comics.

Black Canary by Meg Cabot