Kids Comics Pitchfest 2025 Showcase

Gesundheit

Cassia wants nothing more than to reverse time to see Grandma again. Since her passing, Cassia’s retreated inward, cutting herself off. When Cassia receives an unexpected birthday gift, she gets a warped version of her wish. Each time she sneezes, she’s instantly pulled into the moment of a still photograph from her grandma’s travels – into the exact instant and loose location the snapshot was taken. Cassia tries to connect with Grandma, but the entire world is frozen in that moment - with the exception of a mysterious cat that becomes her key back to reality. With each travel, the magic fades, becoming unreliable. Now, Cassia must find a way toward closure or risk being trapped in grief, wandering alone in a stationary past, forever.

My Why:

GESUNDHEIT was inspired by Ashlee’s grandmother, whose house was filled with memories from journeys around the world. Each vase, painting, or piece of jewelry had an incredible story behind it, which filled Ashlee with wanderlust. Grief comes in many forms and can be triggered by infinite reasons: loss of a loved one, a broken relationship, abandonment, to name a few. Geoff and Ashlee drew inspiration from their own family’s adoption in the subplot for Cassia’s BFF, Jasmine, who was adopted interracially, after being abandoned by her birth parents. GESUNDHEIT weaves together these many sources of grief to share one path through heartache. Their dream is that it may spark a light of hope within a future reader who’s struggling with grief.