from both sides
an upper middle grade graphic novel
Martha Dunn and Simon Skylark were best friends, until a fateful decision one year ago left them attending different schools for eighth grade. Now, Martha spends her days writing songs on the family piano and trying to avoid the bullies at her strict Catholic school. Simon dreams of starting a band, so he can win tickets to the massive Live Aid concert coming to town. But when a single red balloon finds its way from Simon to Martha, the former friends are reunited in a way neither could have imagined.
Set in the Philadelphia suburbs of 1985, and inspired by the beloved mixtapes of that era, From Both Sides is a carefully curated, two-sided take on timeless music, fragile friendships, and the deeply human desire to love and be loved.
FORMAT: From Both Sides is a 270-page, full-color graphic novel for upper middle grade readers. Structured as a reversible, double book with distinctive art styles to match the two main characters, the book contains parallel, overlapping stories that meet in the middle. Each chapter is inspired by a song from the shared soundtrack of Simon and Martha’s lives, so no matter which side you start on, you’ll want to flip the book over and dive immediately into the other side — just like a mixtape.
This is one story you’ll want to hear…from both sides.
who are the devine brothers?
Brian and Dave Devine are twin brothers who entered the world seven minutes apart. Their parents didn’t know they were having twins until the moment of birth; ultrasound wasn’t common at the time, and according to the doctor, their heartbeats were synchronized. It’s possible they still are. With only one name selected in advance, Brian and Dave spent their first days in the hospital named Baby A and Baby B.
They grew up in the 1980’s in a small town outside Philadelphia, raised on a healthy diet of Calvin and Hobbes, Star Wars, Saturday morning cartoons and Marvel comic books. Creative kids, they honed their artistic and storytelling skills in the early years, and together harbored childhood ambitions to start a comic book company (or travel the country in a custom van solving crimes). As is often the case, life got in the way, but the story didn’t end there. The twins followed separate, but often similar, paths that eventually led them back to those early dreams.
Brian parted ways from his twin brother after high school and attended the College of William and Mary, where he created art and weekly political cartoons for The Flat Hat school newspaper. After graduating, Brian devoted the next 27 years to a career as an English teacher, track coach and school administrator. Recently he moved on from the field of education to a new career as a therapist for teens and young adults.
Along the way, Brian founded Cellar Sky Studio in Portland, Oregon, which allows him to create and sell original landscape paintings and prints at local shops and online.
After high school, Dave attended the University of Notre Dame, where he was an art editor for the school newspaper and helped to launch a comic book on campus. His first years after college were spent as a homeless outreach worker and as a high school teacher and coach. Eventually, he moved on to higher education, and spent 14 years teaching and working at universities in Pennsylvania and Oregon.
But storytelling always remained a passion, and he’s spent the last seven years as a freelance writer and award-winning journalist in Portland, Oregon.
