The Sweetness Between Us, Vampire YA Rom Com by Sarah Winifred Searle

The Sweetness Between Us is a new YA rom-com graphic novel by Sarah Winifred Searle. “When farm boy Perley goes back to school after being diagnosed with diabetes, he discovers his classmate Amandine is a recently turned vampire… and she can taste his blood sugar levels. Their relationship grows and evolves as they navigate their new conditions.” Searle is the creator of, or contributor to, comic books such as Fresh Romance, Faith, Adventure Time, Then It Was Dark, The Secret Loves Of Geek Girls, Ruined, Chainmail Bikini, The Only One, Rugrats, Jem & The Holograms, Twisted Romance, Sincerely Harriet, The Greatest Thing and more. Here is the original pitch:

Perley is 16 when he’s diagnosed with diabetes, and the adjustment to life with a demanding chronic illness is challenging enough without the tribulations of teendom. His classmate Amandine has also been out of school with a health issue, and when Perley tests his blood glucose levels, he finds out why: she was recently turned into a vampire to save her “life” after a traffic accident! And, conveniently, she can taste his blood sugar levels. They bond as they both learn to live with their new states of being, learning the intricacies of privilege and support systems—some that they share, and many they don’t. The pair joke that if they can make it to prom and have their only worries be frivolous things like who to ask and what to wear, they’ll have succeeded at getting back to normal. But it turns out the only way to move forward is to accept their new normals, and they’ll only ever get to enjoy the growing feelings they have for each other if they learn the difference between healthy love and codependency. This is not a typical supernatural romance about forbidden love, or edgy brooding boys, or whatever (though those can be delightful too). The vampire aspect introduces levity and flair to the exploration of what it means to live with chronic illness and was the perfect choice to play off diabetes, a condition monitored through frequent blood testing. I wanted to depict diabetes because I live with it, myself.

Calista Brill at First Second has bought The Sweetness Between Us, also edited by Ben Wilgus, and that publication is set for 2025. Sarah Winfred Searle’s agent Jen Linnan at Linnan Literary Management negotiated the deal for world rights.

First Second Books is an American graphic novels publisher based in New York City, and an imprint of Roaring Brook Press, part of Holtzbrinck Publishers, distributed by Macmillan, with Editorial & Creative Director Mark Siegel and Editorial Director Calista Brill.