Stage Dreams

By Melanie Gillman

In this rollicking queer western adventure, acclaimed cartoonist Melanie Gillman (Stonewall Award Honor Book As the Crow Flies) puts readers in the saddle alongside Flor and Grace, a Latinx outlaw and a trans runaway, as they team up to thwart a Confederate plot in the New Mexico Territory. When Flor—also known as the notorious Ghost Hawk—robs the stagecoach that Grace has used to escape her Georgia home, the first thing on her mind is ransom. But when the two get to talking about Flor's plan to crash a Confederate gala and steal some crucial documents, Grace convinces Flor to let her join the heist.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lerner Publishing
• Release date: Sep 3, 2019
• ISBN: 9781541564961

Melanie Gillman

Melanie Gillman is a cartoonist and colored pencil artist who draws positive queer and trans comics for young readers. They are the creator of the webcomic and graphic novel As the Crow Flies, published in 2017 by Iron Circus Comics. As the Crow Flies has been named a 2018 Stonewall Honor Book, won the 2018 Excellence in Graphic Literature Award for Best Middle Grade Graphic Novel, and been nominated for an Ignatz, Eisner, and Dwayne McDuffie Award. In addition to their comics work, they are also an adjunct professor in the Comics MFA Program at the California College of the Arts, where they teach classes about making comics and professional practices.

Book preview

Reviews for Stage Dreams

[librolindsay · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I really liked the premise and the historical notes at the end were great--the author really did their research--but I would have liked more development of plot and characters to match the historical detail.

[sweetiegherkin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Ghost Hawk, a noted highway robber, attacks a stage coach in the New Mexico territory and takes what she think is a high-bred lady for ransom. However, the lady in question is actual a trans teen on the run from her family in Georgia so she isn't drafted into the Confederate army. The pair concoct a plan to go incognito to a party where they can spy on Confederate plans. This book had some many things going for it -- LGBTQIA representation, a queer romance that isn't overly sentimental in its depiction, action/adventure, accurate historical fiction (complete with factual notes at the back of the book), and beautiful illustrations in a muted palette. In fact, the only thing I didn't like about it was how slim it was. It doesn't state anything about a sequel or a series, but I hope there is more. It felt like we were just getting to know these characters and their dreams, so the ending was a bit unsatisfactory if that's all there is to it.

[ecataldi-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Queer. Western. Graphic Novel.... Have I drawn you in yet? Relatively short for a graphic novel; Stage Dreams tells the story of a trans deserter who is kidnapped by an indigenous woman and her hawk. When Ghost Hawk realizes that Grace is trans, she isn't upset; in fact the two start to work together to steal maps and gold along their way to California. What neither of them expected was to start falling for each other. A super short, charming story that looks wonderful in colored pencil rather than the usual color of graphic novels.

[jennybeast · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sweet story of chance encounters, stagecoach stick-ups and spur-of-the-moment counter confederacy spying. Very queer, very adorable.

[villemezbrown · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Pretty darn good LGBTQ+ western, but it seemed to introduce more concepts and potential storylines than this slight volume was able to pull off. Since it cannot be magically twice as long as it already is, I'd definitely like to see a sequel that could more fully address all the stuff Gillman brings up in their endnotes.

[baskinginbooks · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I received a copy of Stage Dreams by Melanie Gillman from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. Queer, western comic set in 1861? Sure, why not?! This was a fun romp of a comic. A stage car is traveling in the New Mexico territory when it gets attacked by the bandit know as Ghost Hawk ( a Latina woman named Flor). Ghost Hawk decides to take the young woman in the stage for ransom as she’d likely get a pretty penny for her safe return. This part made me uncomfortable since Flor also made a joke about how young women are also good company *wink*, which leaves one wondering about her perception of consent. Once Ghost Hawk takes the woman, Flor realizes that the woman is hiding in her bonnet and, when she forcibly removes it, she realizes that the woman is trans. Rather than treat Grace poorly, Flor treats her with no added fanfare and asks her what her name is. From this point on, the two women become friends and begin to plan a heist with Grace playing the role of wealthy debutante. I loved the positive depiction of Grace and for that I gave this 3 stars. Gillman also based this off of real historical transfolks, which is wonderful. That said, I felt Flor character could have been more nuanced and the coloring style was not my favorite.

[librarianryan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This LGBTQ positive historical graphic novel is about a stagecoach bobber and her hostage. Her hostage becomes not only her love interest, but her co-conspirator in a plan to steal from the wealthy and set off in a new life. This is a quick, fun story that anyone’s sure to enjoy it. In the back, the author gives you different info tidbit about events taking place on different pages. They include information about real trans soldiers as well as historical movements, and things that happened. Overall, this is well done. It was a very entertaining and interesting read.