NO RULES TONIGHT by KIM HYUN SOOK AND RYAN ESTRADA
A REVIEW by ALEXA DUNCAN
South Korea has been in the news a lot lately, what with a botched martial law attempt by President Yoon, the subsequent protests, and impeachment. All of this happened (and is still happening) in a matter of days. But what if it lasted years? That is exactly what happened in South Korea in the 1980s, as martial law ruled the land and a violent fascist movement threatened to rid the country of democracy once and for all.
In No Rules Tonight, an autobiographical graphic novel by Kim Hyun Sook and her husband, Ryan Estrada, a group of college students (including Hyun Sook) decide to go hi
king in Jiri Mountain National Park at the end of their semester, not realizing it’s Christmas Eve, the one night a year where Korean youth can stay out past curfew and finally be free to do what they’d like.
No Rules Tonight is essentially a sister novel to Banned Book Club by the same author-illustrator duo. Both stories recount Hyun Sook’s experiences as a teen and college student in the 80s in Korea, and how difficult that was. No Rules Tonight is much more light-hearted than Banned Book Club, and that’s reflected in art. The colors are vibrant and illustrations are dynamic and expressive, almost like a cartoon. The writing is great–there are some funny lines and Korean puns English speakers might not get, but that’s fine–and the overall message of the story resonates just as much today as it did in 1984: Freedom is something we should never take for granted, and we should always take happiness where we can get it. There is also some typical teenager stuff in there to balance out the more serious aspects, including a kiss or two and a whole lot of gossip among the group.
Readers looking for a Christmassy tale that also ties in with current events will love No Rules Tonight. You can find it at the Oreana Library today!