That little yellow guy at right is a nangnang, a seahorse-y creature from James Kennedy’s The Order of Odd-Fish. The book’s about Jo, a teenage girl who hangs out with talking cockroach butlers and Russian colonels and saves the world from evil forces. She’s rad.

In this scene from Chapter Twelve (which is also a papercut by Max Pitchkites) the nangnang’s biting off Jo’s fingernail. Props to how Max did it so it looks like an acid rock album/she’s bleeding … in outer space.

The book’s been lauded by everyone from Booklist to Timeout to, perhaps most importantly, readers everywhere. To wit: after Odd-Fish’s 2008 debut, James’s mailbox was insta-jammed with tons of awesome Odd-Fish fan art, including beer, stained glass windows, and a vomiting fish cake (see it all here). It was only a matter of time before he won the Newbery.

Soon Odd-Fish will be released in paperback, featuring a glitzy new cover by Paul Hornschemeier. Not surprisingly, James is planning an art-costume-extravaganza to celebrate. And he wants you to participate! You, Fancypants Screenprinter. You, Deviant-Art-ophile. You, Who Occasionally Doodles During Lunch. Everyone’s welcome.

Here’s a list of stuff from the book you/your friends/your students/your cousins might want to illustrate:

• a costume party in the desert
• a box falling from the sky
• a zeppelin fight
• a marching band on a beach
• a thirty-foot long purple and yellow monster with feathers and four wings
• a duel with flying ostriches and flaming lances
• a musical instrument that’s also a living animal you climb inside to play

All the art, be it glossy or gritty, will be on display at Collaboraction. On opening night, there’ll be a party with snacks and battle dancing, and in the weeks afterwards, high schoolers will tour the space to ogle the pieces, take performance workshops, and talk about the book.

Want more details? Check out James’s blog. Deadline’s March 1st!