Cover of Mùa Hè Bất Tận (Eternal Summer), a new Vietnamese coming-of-age comic book by writer Lâm Hoàng Trúc. Photo courtesy of Du Bút Books

HCM CITY — Mùa Hè Bất Tận (Eternal Summer), a new Vietnamese coming-of-age comic book by writer Lâm Hoàng Trúc, has been released.

The 224-page book revolves around stories about two friends, a boy and a girl, both called Hà Phương and at the age of 15, who are seniors at a secondary school.

It highlights their transition from being a child to an adult, focusing on their thoughts of the teenage world and first love feelings, and how to deal with examination issues and parents’ expectations.

Writer Trúc wrote on her Facebook page that her story targeted grown-ups and people who are trying to find a way to be adults.

She said that an age rating for comics was strange to some people, but it helped readers approach and understand the story in an appropriate way.

She said the book would support the trend of creating comics for adults.

The book is published by June Comics, the Thanh Niên (Youth) Publishing House and Du Bút Books.

As many as 2,600 copies were preordered before public release on June 30.

Movie director Nguyễn Hữu Tuấn wrote on Du Bút Books website: “Deep feeling and full of emotion. Reading the book is like watching an independent film of the 2000s.”

Mùa Hè Bất Tận can be purchased at bookstores Ohquao in HCM City and Ra Riêng in Hà Nội, and online at dubutbooks.com.

Comic book writer Trúc was born in 1991 in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Tiền Giang.

She graduated from the faculty of industrial fine arts at the HCM City University of Architecture.

She worked as an amateur comics creator before joining two animation studios in France and Japan to improve her skills.

Trúc said thanks to jobs at two animation studios, she had learned a lot of knowledge and experience to keep her love and faith for comics.

In 2018, Trúc released her first comic book set called Đường Hoa (Flower Streets) for teenagers, which she created in three years.

The two-book set published by Kim Đồng Publishing House features a poor painter named Trung living in a big city who feels lost in life and love. He returns to his peaceful hometown in hope of finding himself again.

According to the publisher, Đường Hoa makes a deep impression on readers with the Mekong Delta’s beautiful landscapes and its friendly people and life. It also sends deep messages about love, young people's dreams and family love. — VNS