- Graphic Novels
- Ages 9–13
- Contemporary
Next Stop
A tender middle-grade graphic novel about grief, healing, and an unusual road trip. It balances accessible visual storytelling with a genuinely emotional subject, making it a strong choice for readers ready for sadness handled gently.
- Best for9–13
- FormatGraphic
- Length272 pp
- Read aloud~2 hr10 min
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Conversational
Tone
- Heartwarming
- Bittersweet
- Warm
- Thought provoking
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
Pia is carrying a loss that has changed how she sees herself, her family, and the world around her. When she joins a bus trip to a strange and possibly magical desert destination, the journey becomes more than a break from ordinary life: it becomes a way to meet other people, face grief, and slowly imagine a future after heartbreak. Debbie Fong's Next Stop uses the movement of a trip to structure an emotional story about mourning, connection, and the small steps that help a child keep going. The graphic-novel format makes the story approachable, but the feelings are real. It is thoughtful, warm, and quietly powerful rather than loud or action-heavy.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- Best fit · 9–13
- Read aloud · 8–13
- Independent · 9–13
Prose load
Light
Visual support
Very high
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Workable
Works well for
- Gift-buying
- Reluctant readers
Preview before sharing if a child is sensitive to: grief, death of character.
Bedtime suitability
3 / 5 · Workable
Sensitive-child
3 / 5 · Mostly fine
Graphic intensity
1 / 5 · None
Best for
- Grief story
- Middle grade graphic novel
- Gentle emotional read
- Road trip story
- Healing after loss
Avoid if
- Sensitive to grief
- Wants light comedy
- Wants high action
- Bedtime reading after loss
Particularly good for children who are…
- Bereavement
- Anxiety and worry
- Making friends
- Low self esteem
In the classroom
How it works in school.
A quietly moving graphic novel about grief and hope on a road trip — a strong discussion read for older readers, and accessible for reluctant ones.
A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
The specific weight is the strange desert destination — Pia carrying a loss that's changed how she sees herself, joining a bus trip to a possibly-magical place, the journey becoming the way she starts to imagine a future. The Debbie Fong graphic novel for a thoughtful reader ready for grief handled gently.
- Being understood finally
- Friendship and belonging
- Adventure and freedom
- Making a difference
Why parents love it
The Debbie Fong debut — grief handled with extraordinary delicacy, road-trip structure giving the emotional work somewhere to move, warm and quietly powerful rather than dramatic. Strong for middle-grade readers ready for sadness without action-comedy distractions.
- Conversation starter
- Great writing
- Beautiful illustrations
About the author & illustrator
Debbie Fong.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
If you liked this, try…
Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
More like this…
Books that share themes and topics with this one.
Buy or borrow
Pick up a copy.
- Bookshop.org ↗
- Waterstones ↗
- Amazon UK ↗
- Hive ↗
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