Get Ready to Flip for the Tasty, Treasure-Hunting Middle-Grade Graphic Novel THE PANCAKE TRAP!
Coming Hot off the Griddle June 2026 from Star Beasts Creators Stephanie Young and Allyson Lassiter
COVER ART BY ALLYSON LASSITER
PORTLAND, OR (October 14, 2025) – Oni Press, the multiple Eisner and Harvey Award–winning publisher of groundbreaking comics and graphic novels since 1997, is excited to announce a new adventure from creative duo Stephanie Young and Allyson Lassiter (Star Beasts) THE PANCAKE TRAP, a middle-grade graphic novel stacked full of foodie hijinks as two sisters learn that love is thicker than batter.
This June, meet Maple and Margaret Sanford, two sisters who couldn’t be more different. Ten-year-old Maple is a pancake-obsessed griddle cook determined to save their grandma’s failing restaurant, Dot’s Diner. Margaret is a college-bound beauty queen who can’t wait for their mom to sell the run-down restaurant. On the last day before Dot’s Diner will be sold to the town’s multimillionaire mogul, the girls are thrown into a dangerous food-themed treasure hunt, looking for gold left by runaway outlaw Crispy Cruller. Joined by a trusty friend, a helpful robot drone, and an adorable pup, Maple and Margaret will dive deep into the twisted caves and caverns underneath their town facing one syrup-sticky flapjack trap after another. With nothing more than their grandma’s cookbook clues to guide them, will the Sanford Sisters be able to put their differences aside, find the loot, and save Dot’s Diner before it’s too late?
“I cooked up the idea for THE PANCAKE TRAP based on my obsession with pancakes, my love of adventure movies, and a fight I had with my sister,” said writer Stephanie Young. “Luckily, the fight is long forgotten, but my passions for pancakes and treasure hunts are still going strong.”
“THE PANCAKE TRAP is just the type of story I love,” said illustrator Allyson Lassiter. “It has adventure, heart, and novelty-sized danger. I am so happy that I got the chance to help bring Steph’s book to life for today’s kids to read late at night under their bedsheets with a flashlight, the way I enjoyed all my favorite books and comics as a kid.”
“THE PANCAKE TRAP is full of humor, heart, and hijinks. It’s the perfect fit for kids who devour food-related graphic novels like Dracula’s Brunch Club, Super Boba Cafe, and Sugar Shack,” said Senior Editor Grace Scheipeter. “Readers will love each twist and turn through the cave-diving treasure hunt and the sweet treats along the way with kid-friendly illustrated pancake recipes included after every chapter.”
Bring your appetite for adventure, sisterly bonds, and diner darlings when THE PANCAKE TRAP releases June 2026!
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INTERIOR ART BY ALLYSON LASSITER
About the Creators
Allyson Lassiter is an illustrator, plush designer, bike rider, and soup-maker. She likes meteor showers, soft serve ice cream, dogs, and triple quasar style dance moves.
Stephanie Young is a writer, pancake connoisseur, and pie baker. She likes the constellation Pleiades, mint chip ice cream, cats, and funny space lingo ("What the Hubble?")