Booklists

The members of Binh’s Vietnamese American family have varying opinions on spending the weekend at a Buddhist silent meditation retreat. While his parents and older sister have been looking forward to it, his younger sister can think of a whole list of camps she’d prefer to attend. And Binh? It’s “gonna suck” without his GameBoy to help him escape, but at least he’ll be free of his parents’ nagging questions about the fight he recently got into with a bully who’d been taunting him with racist comments. During meditation breaks, the children at the retreat meet with Sister Peace, who tells them Jataka tales, parables about the Buddha’s past lives. As he listens, Binh imagines the tales—which impart lessons about the value of relying on one’s inner wisdom, family members, friends, and community—as levels in a video game, with himself as a character. Still ruminating on the incident at school, Binh reflects on the parables in relation to his own life and how he might open up to his family about what happened. On the ride home, Binh, feeling present in the moment, finds himself eager to talk about the retreat with his family. Buddhist practice inspires a welcome new perspective during a difficult time in this fast-paced graphic novel interweaving contemporary scenes, flashbacks, and video game sequences. ©2023 Cooperative Children’s Book Center 

Illustrated by Chan Chau

CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 9-12
Age Range: Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10) Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Format: Graphic Novel
Subjects: Bullying and Teasing Faith, Spirituality and Religion Families Folk and Fairy Tales Imagination/Imaginary Play Resiliency Vietnamese and Vietnamese Americans
Diversity subject: Asian Other Religion

Publisher: Little, Brown
Publish Year: 2023
Pages: 137
ISBN: 9780759555471
CCBC Location: Non-Fiction, 741.5 Le

Add To My List