Young Shadow & the Watchdogs

Harvey Award for Best Children's Book 2026 NOMINEE

Young Shadow usually protects sci-fi Bolt City by making deliveries for the food bank and rescuing pets. But this time around, he needs to focus on two things: hitting and pitching! When Young Shadow and the eight Watchdogs -- Elmore, Gerry, Larry, Gomez, Marta, Ketchum, Rolando, and Junior -- investigate a concerning chemical sludge being dumped into Bolt City's water, Elmore discovers a haunted baseball glove and inadvertently summons a team from the beyond that challenges them to a game to the death. With a stadium full of hostile vampires, mummies, frankensteins, and ghouls rooting for the visitors, the Watchdogs enlist Young Shadow to fill out their roster -- and save Bolt City!

This exciting new middle-grade graphic novel from cartoonist and musician Ben Sears establishes a world that embraces classic superhero, sci fi, and supernatural comics without any irony, executed in a brilliant two-tone color scheme of jet black and mustardy yellow that perfectly suits the spooky fun and fast paced adventure. Young Shadow & the Watchdogs is a page-turner for readers of any age.