Over the summer, the content team had the privilege of meeting author and illustrator Lewis Hancox at the What Kids Are Reading event in London. We loved Lewis’ debut graphic novel, Welcome to St. Hell: My Trans Teen Misadventure, so much that it was the 2025 Quiz Writers’ Choice Award winner for the Secondary Non-Fiction category. As Senior Content Assistant Lee Burkwood said, “This poignant story really helps readers understand what it is like to be a transgender person and the journey that many trans people go on.”

Lewis is a brilliant voice in contemporary storytelling. He is known for blending humour, heart and honesty in his work as a writer, illustrator and filmmaker. In Welcome to St. Hell and its sequel Escape from St. Hell: My Trans Teen Life Levels Up, Lewis chronicles his journey growing up as a trans teen with wit and vulnerability, offering readers a deeply personal yet relatable experience. He is also a viral comedy creator and LGBTQ+ advocate whose online characters – like British Mum and Prinny Queen – have earned him a devoted following.

In this Q&A, Editorial Assistant Lucy McGraw got the chance to chat with Lewis about creativity, identity and the power of telling your own story. You can find the full version of this interview, which includes advice for future authors and illustrators, as well as information about Lewis’s upcoming projects, in The Reading Room.

The Reading Room is an online magazine for AR and myON users. The next issue will be published in mid-October and will be available here, where you can also check out the launch edition and download free resources.

We appreciate Lewis taking the time to talk with us, and we can’t wait to see what he does next!

How did you get into illustration and writing? 

I started drawing ever since I could clutch a pen. It was my way of escaping when I felt like I didn’t fit in – I could get lost in my own cartoon world. I remember being at the primary school disco and while all the other kids were dancing, I spent the evening in the headmaster’s office doodling comic strips!

In my early career, I delved more into filmmaking but would still draw in my spare time. It was only during lockdown in 2020 that the inspiration struck to draw a comic of my life and gender transition in a way that I hadn’t seen before. My aim was to educate people on trans lives through humour and creativity, in a really relaxed and relatable way. I honestly had no idea that my story would get picked up by a publisher as big as Scholastic – it still feels surreal!

Drawing and telling stories has always been my therapy, so it’s proper rewarding to know that ‘Welcome to St Hell’ has helped others not feel alone like I did growing up.

What was your favourite scene to create in Welcome to St. Hell and why?

It’s really hard for me to pick just one scene because I enjoyed creating different scenes for different reasons. Whenever my adult self interacted with my teenage self, thinking up those conversations was really healing (even if teen me would ultimately tell adult me to “bog off”!). It was fun to actually interview my friends and family for the book, too. There’s a conversation with my parents where we break the fourth wall – Dad “stops” the comic, to tell the reader I’m making him look bad. It was really fun, playing with other people’s perspectives like that.

The funniest scenes to draw were probably the wild nights out my teen self and friends had – especially when I was introduced to St Hell’s little lesbian scene after my first coming out as a ‘gay girl’. Recalling those nights was a blast. I was finding myself and my community in the only way my small town had to offer back in the early 2000s.

Growing up, what was your favourite book?

Calvin and Hobbes comics, all the way. I’ve got the whole collection. I found a lot of comfort and wisdom in that boy and his talking Tiger.

Books by Lewis on Accelerated Reader:

Welcome to St. Hell: My Trans Teen Misadventure
UY | Quiz # 245022 | BL 3.1 | Scholastic Ltd