The Magic Fish: (A Graphic Novel)

This graphic novel is a perfect example of the mastery of simplicity. The artist takes the familiar threads of the immigrant story, fairy tales, and stories as the means of human connection, and spin them together into a masterpiece that tugs at the heartstrings and addresses difficult topics in a way that still remains accessible to middle-grade readers.The main cast of characters are all very likable and the artist is able to make the fairy tales his own by fleshing out the archetypes and peopling the stories with characters of his own invention which freshens up the familiar tales. Nothing is overdone. The balance between the story within the story, and the narratives of our main characters is deftly maintained, and the parallels between the two narratives becomes a way to create mood and invoke allusions in the main story while maintaining the strict realism of the setting.The script is not particularly complex or heavy to avoid overwhelming the small panels, but every single panel adds to our depth of understanding. For instance, the Dad and the friends only show up for 10 or 15 pages each, but the reader can very quickly grasp their character and how they relate with the MCs, and even more minor characters show their personality within the space of a few panels.I hope there will be more to come from strung Le Nguyen in the future, because this is truly top-tier.

Luxurious colored graphics illuminate the interwoven stories. In the past is the story of Hien and Vinh falling in love and fleeing from Vietnam in a boat, revealed in brown and tan hues. Three rich and surprising fables unfold in blue and purple. Peach and blood red emerge from these colors. The central story, set in 1998, is in soft red and pink, the story of “a boy and his mother figuring out how to express love without the benefit of an appropriate vernacular.”Thirteen-year-old Tien and his family live in the USA. Because his parents are recent immigrants, there are different languages within one family. Tien has a secret crush on handsome, athletic Julian. His hard-working parents Hien and Vinh don’t easily talk about feelings. With his mom grieving the loss of her own mother, Tien doesn’t want to ask for what he needs.Tien’s coming out story follows the first two fairy tales. Father Niles engages in “faith counseling” and at first discourages Tien from speaking the truth to his parents. With different languages, it’s sometimes hard to communicate. Hien changes the ending of the third fairy tale to show her son she loves and accepts him as he is. It’s a stunning and brave accomplishment from a gifted writer and artist.

This story was so touching and I thoroughly enjoyed it!! I relate to it a lot.

I loved this layered story that at its heart is a story about a mom and her son. I loved the characters and the fairy tales. The artwork was so pretty.

With illustrations that are simple yet astonishingly beautiful and dialogue that is authentic yet fabulous (in both senses of the word), Nguyen weaves a complex tale of intertwined stories that portray the challenges of escaping “normed” narratives of coming out and immigration.Tiển, a young adolescent, struggles to find the words to come out to his mother, an immigrant from Việt Nam. She, meanwhile, struggles to make peace with her new identity even as she is faced with sad news that forces her to return to the land of her birth. As they attempt to communicate, Tiển and his mother read each other fairy tales, each of which also tells the story of a protagonist confronting identity issues.The Magic Fish, a touching and deceptively sophisticated graphic novel, would be a wonderful way for younger readers to learn about what it means to be “different” and how to overcome marginalization.

I usually don’t do reviews and I’m not a big reader but I was told to read this book for a Creative World Literature class that I am currently taking. I finished this book in 2 days which is fast for a full time college student. This book has incredible art and is extremely well illustrated! The author did intense research on fashion moments to help design the dresses that are in this book so props to the author! The themes it covers is something I hold dear close to my heart. I’m excited to see what this Author has to come!

This is a Middle Grade/Young Adult Graphic Novels. This is about a Vietnamese family that is living in American, and is being told by the son, Tie who is in High School (I think). Tie's parents are having trouble learning English, so they read books together. Tie is also gay, and he not sure how to tell his family. I did not know if I would enjoyed this book, but I decided to give it a try when I saw Gavin talk about it. I loved this book so much. I know some people say it is middle grade and some say it is Young Adult. I say there is nothing in this book I would not want my daughter who is in 6st grade to read, so I think it is middle grade. I do think this is one of those books 5th grade on really could read and love. I think adults and young kids could love this book. There is so much different things going on that anyone could love this book for many different reason. The pictures in this book are so great, and the pictures just brought this story to life.

Arrived in perfect condition and earlier than expected. Which helped my teen finish an essay for summer school. Great book that describe a teens struggle to open up to their parents, and be their own person, so as not to disappoint their parents & their expectations of them.

I'm only giving this restrict to the illustration and design of the book. It is so beautiful, the style, the colours, etc. So worth it to have it printed

The media could not be loaded.  This book was such a treat to read! I loved learning about the fairy tales, and how they correlated with what was going on in the book as well. Not to mention, it came in mint condition- no creases, rips, anything.The artwork is a big seller to me, it’s fantastic. The colour schemes used throughout are such a treat for the eyes, and are never grating to look at.Overall, the gay representation in the book was good too. It intertwined with the mother’s immigrant struggles, and I thought that it was nice that we got to see how the mother-son duo both struggled with their identities.I did like the sentiment, and the representation, but I thought it would’ve been nice if we got to see a bit more of Tièn’s story after coming out. I still thought the ending was sweet, but I would’ve liked to see Tièn’s mother take time to come to terms with who her son is.She accepted him rather quickly, which was just fine, but I thought the bio would’ve had more substance if they showed Tièn’s mother slowly learning.Other than that, the book is still adorable and definitely a great lgbtq+ read. Another great story to add to my collection!

Great story, and the cover wasn’t damaged

uma narrativa precisa e uma mensagem necessária.

A great combination of fairytales and real life. I enjoyed the different colour schemes for the different elements of the story. A beautiful book.