Next Stop - by Debbie Fong

Kirkus Reviews describes Next Stop as “a poignant story that delicately balances youthful delight and naïveté with profound mourning.”

I'd describe it as my favorite book I’ve read this year.

Next Stop follows Pia, a reserved middle schooler who embarks on a transformative desert bus tour to a mystical lake, uncovering the beauty of connection and healing along the way. I don't want to tell you any more of the plot, as it, like so many of my favorite books, is so much about the way it's told, and going in blind makes it so much better.

So here's what I'll tell you...

This book is so damn sweet, sad, heartbreaking, and funny in ways that feel effortless. It's stuck with me so much so that I reached out to Debbie (who I got to meet at a comics event this year) and asked for a hardback copy, because I want to pickup this thing again and again over the years.

It’s also just perfectly made. The size feels right in your hands, the cover is beautiful, (especially the cover under the hard cover dust jacket!) and inside, it’s packed with the most lovely, quiet moments.

I love how the cast of characters unfolds. You meet them gradually, one by one, over the course of the journey. And then, on a second read, you realize they were there all along—just like the protagonist, you weren’t paying attention at first.

Then the color does everything beautifully, from subtle indications of flashbacks, to gorgeous shifts from bright, hot, exciting day, to cool lonely, beautiful night and day is all handled with such care.

They’re fun, but there’s also this slightly otherworldly quality to them, like you’ve stepped into a dream.

And at its heart, this book is so wonderfully human. The weight of the past and the beauty of the present unfold along a surreal and slightly unsettling bus trip through various roadside attractions.

If you haven't read Next Stop, go buy it right now. Give it to someone.

This book is just fucking fantastic.

Learn more about Debbie Fong and her work on her website.

Buy Next Stop.