Library of the Apes

Announcing the inaugural title in Library of the Apes, Theater of the Apes publishing concern:

The cover of Panther City: Tales of a Gen X Grade 3 Class Project Run Amok by Ayun Halliday. A grid of 3rd graders school photos circa 1973 overlaid with a pale pink wash. A black rectangle in the center bears the title in white lemon milk font, as well as the names of Halliday and illustrator Leni Yow-Fairs (age 8) separated by a tiny pink heart. At the bottom, in yellow italics on a deep pink background, is a blurb from Ariel Gore, author of Rehearsals for Dying: Hilarious, heartbreaking, and utterly human. Beneath the vivid 1970s details is a sharp social commentary about power, privilege, and the ways we learn to navigate an unfair world."

The official publication date is November 4, but it's very likely you'll receive it earlier if you pre-order it here: https://www.ayunhalliday.com/shop/p/panther-city


PANTHER CITY: Tales of a Gen X 3rd grade class project run amok
by Ayun Halliday, Queen of the Apes

Autographed copies available NOW! (Official Release date, November 2025)

 

Long before social media, cell phones, the Internet, expansive gender definitions, or even cable TV, a 3rd grade class collaborated on a paper city. Conceived as a way to make learning fun, the project quickly devolved into an exercise in accusations, subterfuge, and childish vandalism.

Narrated by 8-year-old Annie, the best girl artist in class, Panther City is both a comedy of manners for adults and an unvarnished recollection of a bygone moment in the pre-Bicentennial American Midwest, as observed by Ayun Halliday, Chief Primatologist of The East Village Inky zine and the author of No Touch Monkey! And Other Lessons Learned Too Late.

Fortified with 8 essential vitamins, a Teacher’s Edition and illustrations by an actual 8-year-old!

Praise for PANTHER CITY:

Ayun Halliday takes us into the minds of a dreamy 3rd grader and a teacher whose idealism is rapidly fading. A story of trying to do something good even when the odds are stacked against you.
 – Jeff HillerSomebody Somewhere, Author of Actress of a Certain Age

An utterly charming and clever read. The adorable illustrations made me LOL.

MariNaomi, author and illustrator of Losing the Girl

Whether you’re new to the genius that is Ayun Halliday or an old-school fan, PANTHER CITY is vintage Ayun at her finest. Through the eyes of eight-year-old Annie and her beleaguered teacher Mrs. Voss, Halliday captures the beautiful chaos of childhood creativity colliding with adult anxieties. Set against the backdrop of a third-grade class project gone wonderfully awry, this gem throws us back to the 1970s with the vivid details that’ll make you nostalgic for Tang and TV dinners. Beneath the surface, Halliday serves up sharp social commentary about power, privilege, and the ways we learn to navigate an unfair world. Hilarious, heartbreaking, and utterly human.

Ariel Gore, author of Rehearsals for Dying

The illustrations are as gloriously unhinged as the text, bringing home the truth that even the smallest of dramas can rise to the level of Greek tragedy

Emily Flake author of Joke in a Box: How to Write and Draw Jokes