Next Stop by Debbie Fong
Debbie Fong's new book, Next Stop, is now available!!
If you're looking for the next heart-tugging, hilarious, slow burn middle grade graphic novel to read, this is it.
It's racked up multiple starred reviews:
- "Remarkable." – The Horn Book
- "Poignant" and "profound." – Kirkus Reviews
- "Weird and wonderful." – The Bulletin of Children's Books
- "Gut-wrenching" – Kirsten Gudsnuk
- "Heart wrenching." – Kayla Miller
- "Nuanced and deeply felt.” – Andrea Wang
This book is REALLY GOOD!!!!
Debbie sent me a few spreads of sample art so you can see her rough process from thumbnails, to pencils, to inks, to colors. She's a self-taught artist with a minimalist style influenced by indie comics.
And here's character sketches of the laconic main character, Pia:
And some lovely interior spreads to give you a sense of the story's deadpan humor and surrealist style:
Her book launch at Books of Wonder on Tuesday night was packed!
The wonderful Wendy Xu interviewed her. Wendy asked Debbie where her style comes from, and Debbie replied:
I'm a big fan of stories with a dreamlike quality. Where you're not quite sure what's real, and what's not. And I also really love stories that cross genres.
Then Wendy asked her to describe her creative process. Debbie said:
I script a lot at first. I know some graphic novelists will combine thumbs and scripting at the same time. That's not what I do. The story lives in my head at first, then I write it as a script. And then I toil away trying to make the pictures happen the way I see it in my head. I draw everything with ClipStudio on my iPad. With the iPad, I can keep working even when I travel.
Wendy concluded by asking her what her favorite part of the process is. Debbie answered:
That's easy. My favorite part is the color. I can sit and color the pages just like coloring a coloring book. It's very relaxing!
- Connect with Debbie at her website.
- Connect with her on Instagram.
- Visit her online shop.
- Buy the book.
