Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
A Bronx artist hopes to inspire and empower young readers with a debut graphic novel
By
Precious Fondren
Published Apr 27, 2023
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Stephanie Rodriguez
By
Precious Fondren
Published Apr 27, 2023
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
When comic book artist and illustrator Stephanie Rodriguez was growing up in the Bronx during the mid-2000s, she dreamed of getting into the competitive LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.
Now at 34, she has turned that pursuit into a semi-autobiographical graphic novel for young readers, “Doodles from the Boogie Down," released this week by Penguin Random House.
A first-generation Dominican American, she knew early on that she wanted to be a visual artist. But her mother had other ideas.
“She thought that it would be safer for me to go to Catholic school my whole school career,” Rodriguez said. “We were living in a rough neighborhood, and I guess she wanted to protect me and give me access to a better education.”
Stephanie Rodriguez says around 50% of "Doodles from the Boogie Down" is pulled from her real-life experience.
Antonio M. Johnson
Rodriguez ultimately attended the High School of Fashion industries. But her book focuses on an eighth grader named Stephanie who is intent on attending LaGuardia and becoming a visual artist. Faced with a mother who holds a vendetta against public schools, Stephanie has to go behind her back to pursue her goals.
With “Doodles,” Rodriguez set out to accurately portray the complex relationship between a mother and daughter, how kids with creative sensibilities can chase their own dreams and how budding artists can find inspiration outside of Manhattan cultural institutions.
She says about 50% of what’s in "Doodles" is pulled from her real-life experience. The character in her novel learns about LaGuardia through her art teacher, for example.
“But for me, it was my English teacher who had attended the school as a high schooler,” Rodriguez said. “When she heard that I was interested in applying, she kind of took me under her wing, and helped me set up an art portfolio for the auditions.”
That English teacher – represented in the graphic novel as the art teacher Ms. Santiago – let Rodriguez hang around in her classroom after school to perfect her drawing skills, and exposed her to art she had never seen before.
“She even took me to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the first time and just gave me a history in one afternoon, and that was super exciting,” she said.
Rodriguez says she’s told friends her story a million times before, and even published a short version in a small Latinx comic anthology some years ago. Joanna Cárdenas, executive editor at Penguin Young Readers imprint Kokila, discovered the zine via Twitter, and signed Rodriguez to produce the longer version she’s spent the last five years writing and drawing.
"Seeing a book with a Dominican girl on the cover, and she's just growing up and it's not just trauma, you see joy, she goes to parties, it's fun – it’s like we’re really being published," says bookseller Scarllet Veras.
Stephanie Rodriguez, courtesy Penguin Random House
Rodriguez says completing “Doodles from the Boogie Down” has been her biggest challenge yet.
“I knew how the story was going to start and how I wanted it to end, and I just kind of had to figure out all the little things that go into the middle of it,” she said. “I picked and chose little memories, and then from there, you break it down into a script, like if you're writing for TV.”
If there’s a lesson Rodriguez wants young readers to take away from the novel, it’s the idea that anyone can have a career in the arts, no matter what background they come from. She’s now in Los Angeles pursuing a career as a writer for TV animation, but emphasizes that she had no examples of artists in her family. That’s why she found it so important to include a teaching moment in the book, where Ms. Santiago lists numerous jobs someone can have as an artist.
“There's a lot of kids out there that are like, 'Oh, I'm interested in something, but I don't have anyone around me that can teach me more about this thing,'” Rodriguez said. “I wanted to use that moment for that question to be answered. Ms. Santiago’s like, 'I'm an art teacher, I studied art. This was one of the routes that you can take as an artist. But you can also be a fashion designer, work in architecture, graphic design.'”
Scarllet Veras, a bookseller at The Lit Bar in the Bronx, emphasizes how important graphic novels like “Doodles” are for introducing kids who may not like reading to the habit. “Once they're interested, they could get into the story, and that's the gateway drug to reading,” she said.
Veras is also Dominican, and says it’s refreshing to see authors of color get commissioned for work that doesn’t focus solely on the suffering of characters of color.
“Seeing a book with a Dominican girl on the cover, and she's just growing up and it's not just trauma, you see joy, she goes to parties, it's fun – it’s like we’re really being published,” she said. “We’re here, and we’re not being erased.”
Rodriguez hopes she’s provided inspiration to students growing up in households with parents who rarely waver on their decisions, so that they can learn to work with their families to pursue their dreams. “I kind of show in the book that there is a little bit of wiggle room, where you can have those conversations and really talk to your parents about what you want to do, and not have them just shut down,” she said.
She also wants to give young people living in the Bronx a sense of pride in the culture the borough has to offer.
“Art doesn't only live in museums – art lives within the streets,” she said. “You see it with murals in your neighborhood, you see it in the colors and the awnings of bodegas and different storefronts. Art can really live anywhere.”
Tagged
graphic novels
bronx
art
Precious Fondren
Precious is a former WNYC & Gothamist culture reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
Will Barnes and Noble in the East Village spell doom for smaller shops? It's complicated.
Independent booksellers are grappling with whether the big-box chain is a threat or an ally in the fight against Amazon.
By
Sonia Rao
Published Oct 16, 2026
Can eligible NYC singles find love with 30 minutes and some really spicy food?
We went to the Spiciest Supper Club singles night to take the temperature of New York City's dating scene.
By
Elizabeth Shwe
and
James Ramsay
Arts & Entertainment
Can eligible NYC singles find love with 30 minutes and some really spicy food?
We went to the Spiciest Supper Club singles night to take the temperature of New York City's dating scene.
By
Elizabeth Shwe
and
James Ramsay
How the NYC Marathon has changed in the last 50 years
By
Hannah Frishberg
A visit to Art of Play, the Brooklyn store in an animatronic bird beef with Kelly Clarkson
By
Sonia Rao
The hottest way to show you're an authentic New Yorker is… riding a Citi Bike?
By
Lindsay Lee Wallace
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .