Night Bus

Plot Summary: When a family goes to visit their grandmother for Chinese New Year, they find that she is losing her memory and is dying. Her village is also being demolished to make way for a new factory. The grandchildren have a series of dreams involving a bus that takes them on a long journey, flashbacks to childhood friends, alien spaceships, and talking animals from Chinese mythology. All these explore how the grandchildren process the loss of their grandmother and their childhood.

Author Background: Zuo Ma was born in Zhijing City, China. He attended the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology before becoming an artist and graphic novelist. Most of his work has been as a freelance artist. His work is important in the Chinese alternative comics movement (Good Reads, n.d.).

Critical Evaluation: Reviews are mixed for Night Bus, but a few different themes appeared. Most of the drawing panels are dark with very little cover. That is a choice by the author since the main points of the story include dreams at night. Also, the themes of the book involve death and dementia. These are not light subjects. Therefore, most of the pictures are in black and white. The surrealist, mythological, and science fiction aspects of the story were fun and made the story easier to follow (Good Reads, n.d.). However, because of the content and how it is presented, I wouldn't recommend Night Bus as an introduction to graphic novels.

Speed-Round Book Talk or Short Book Trailer: Zuo Ma uses aliens, talking animals, and mythological beasts come together to tell a story about siblings that feel like they are losing their childhood and their grandmother. It may seem sad, but they work through it and come out stronger.

Potential Challenge Issues and Defense Preparation: This graphic novel is dark. Death and illness are not easy subjects to cover. However, they come to everyone. Teens are old enough to start to learn about death. By presenting it in a form that involves art, death is an easier subject to approach and accept.

Reason for Inclusion: I included this graphic novel because it was not written by an American or Western author. The majority of the books in this collection probably will be, however it is important to remember that there are other cultures in the world. Their outlook on universal themes needs a platform.

References

Chinu Meenu. (2018, February 16). Legend of Nian. [YouTube]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giYX7bkzW98.

Good Reads. (n.d.). Night Bus. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54785571-night-bus.

TED-ED. (2017, Jan 26). The myth behind the Chinese zodiak. [YouTube]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=may2s9j4RLk