Mai K. Nguyen is a Japanese-Vietnamese American comics creator. Her debut graphic novel Pilu of the Woods was published in 2019. She lives along the salt marshes of the California Bay Area where she spends her free time chasing either a toddler or a dog and drinking too much milk tea.
<p>Anzu has just moved to a new town during Obon a time for families to remember and celebrate their ancestors. Ever since her grandmother Obaachan died though Obon has lost its magic for Anzu. She doesn’t feel like celebrating. <span style="font-size: 1rem;">Escaping the festivities Anzu chases after a stray dog. She slips and falls down a ridge – to find herself in the Shinto underworld known as Yomi a place she’s heard about in Obaachan’s stories. The stray dog she finds out is actually the Gatekeeper of Yomi and he warns her to return to the human realm before it’s too late. </span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Only getting home is not simple. Faced with the nefarious Queen Izanami and a realm of creatures Anzu is in a race against the clock. Can she break a curse free the spirits of other lost children and reach the gate home before sunrise? . . . Or will she be stuck in Yomi for ever?</span></p>
