Enlighten Me (A Graphic Novel)
-
- $9.99
-
- $9.99
Publisher Description
Award-winning author Minh Lê and New York Times bestselling illustrator Chan Chau team up for a fun and enlightening graphic novel about one kid’s journey to finding inner peace and belonging. Perfect for fans of Measuring Up and New Kid.
When Bình fights back against a bully who makes fun of his Vietnamese heritage, he expects to be cheered as the hero. He defeated the bad guy, right?
Instead, it gets him a stern warning from his vice principal and worried parents. Now he’s stuck on a family trip to a silent meditation retreat. That means no talking—and no video games!—for a whole weekend. Could things possibly get any worse?
However, when a nun gathers all the kids to tell them the Jataka tales—the stories of the Buddha’s many past lives—Bình takes a fantastical dive into his imagination and starts to see himself in these stories. Will he retreat further into himself, or will he emerge from the weekend open to change?
With any luck, these next few days will prove more enlightening than he thought.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Lê (Real to Me) adroitly applies the foundational story of Siddhartha, the prince credited with founding Buddhism, and select Jataka tales to build a narrative arc attuned to contemporary tweens' fears and worries. After Vietnamese American tween Bình is nearly suspended for fighting back against a bully at school, his parents take the family on vacation to a silent meditation getaway at Three Jewels Mountain Retreat, hoping that the atmosphere will help Bình practice inner peace. Bình is dreading their stay; not only are participants not allowed to talk, he must also leave behind his beloved Game Boy, which he often escapes into to manage his anxiety. While sitting still in meditation, his mind drifts to past events, revisiting them as 8-bit video game battles against mean classmates and his intolerant school principal. Sister Peace, a Buddhist monk and retreat instructor, takes the youngest participants aside and shares with them Jataka tales of Buddha's past lives before he attained enlightenment. By visualizing these stories as games, Bình learns how to rely on his intellect, family, and community to navigate everyday challenges. Cinematic digital art by Chau (Jessie's Secret Language) renders pensive, autumnal mountain landscapes alongside action-packed 8-bit-style sequences using dynamic framing and movement. A bibliography concludes. Ages 8–12.
