The Rosette is a graphic novel dreamed up by 12-year-old Devon during a field research trip to Namibia and evolved throughout her year-long sabbatical of rewilding and wildlife conservation learning. The Rosette tells the story of a teenage girl born with the power to shapeshift into animals and a mysterious rosette birthmark on the back of her neck. On her 4th birthday, she received a stuffed snow leopard, which she named Himalaya, Himmy for short. Himmy turns out to be alive and becomes her mentor and sidekick, helping her control her powers. Eventually, she understands the meaning behind her rosette birthmark. She learns of a parallel animal world working to fight the sixth extinction and that they have been waiting for The Rosette’s arrival. Integrating the lessons learned from field research with her project, Endangered Activism, and a lifelong passion for endangered species and wildlife conservation, Devon created a superhero story with heart and purpose.
Bridging the literary world into the physical one, Himmy is invisible to everyone but The Rosette and other animals, but she leaves silver footprints behind. This sparked Devon’s first street art project in Paris in the fall of 2017—silver snow leopard footprints walking through the streets of Paris with Himmy’s distinctive heart-shaped pinky toe. The footprints remained for two years; we sought them out on each return visit. Someday, Himmy will return.
Co-written by Shannon Galpin and Devon Galpin Clarke and illustrated by Mariana Prieto.