49 Days

In Korean Buddhist tradition, a person must travel for forty-nine days after death before fully crossing over. This graphic novel follows one girl on that journey. It opens on her first day, as she gets up, presses on, checks a map that tells her where to cross, and notices something that stops her.

The story also spends time with the family and friends she has left behind, so readers see both the journey and the grief that follows it.

Agnes Lee is known for her illustrations for the New York Times Metropolitan Diary, and this is her debut graphic novel. It deals with death, grief, love and the ways people keep moving forward.