This graphic novel was thoroughly beautiful. The artwork, the story, the themes, the authors notes at the end— all of it! I definitely teared up a little at the end.


The Magic Fish is the story of Tiến, a 13 year old boy whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Vietnam when they were younger. One of the ways his family likes to connect together is through story time, which they also use to practice their English. Tiến is also able to learn more about his family’s past through the stories his mom shares with him. Both mother and son go through some tough things during the story and find it hard to communicate about them in the way they would like to. Tiến worries over how to come out to his parents and his mother must deal with deep grief. But perhaps their tradition of storytelling, and interweaving the stories of two different generations, will become the language that finally allows them to connect.

I loved seeing the weaving together of Tiến’s life with the fairytales told between family members. It made it even cooler after reading the author’s notes at the end and seeing the inspiration behind how each story was told, both with the words and illustrations. I loved seeing the power of stories in Tiến’s family to connect them together in a sort of language that is able to transcend space and time and bring the two generations closer together.

The art is so stunning and detailed that I would spend a lot of time on each spread just taking it all in and have also gone back to look through it again. This is most definitely one of my favorite graphic novels now. Can’t wait to see more from Trung Le Nguyen (aka Trungles)!

The Magic Fish: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ( )

Made me cry at the end. A cathartic book for those who bury themselves in stories as a way to navigate the world and personal identity. Will especially speak to those who are seeking out themes of queerness and the impact of immigration on culture and family. Gorgeous art. ( )

This book bounces beautifully between fairy tales and reality, past and present. Bold color palettes visually distinguish the fairy tales Tien reads aloud to his mother and her memories of escaping Vietnam, as well as his modern reality as a child of refugee immigrants grappling his sexual identity. With subtlety and powerful imagery, this graphic novel is engaging and interesting.

I'd heard so many good things about this that I had to go check it out when I saw it at the library. All of its praise is deserved. A magical read with beautiful illustrations -- about immigration and language and faerie tales and identity and clothing and coming out. Especially love the Vietnamese faerie tales -- the similarities and differences with the Western tales I grew up with are fascinating.

A treasure of a book. ( )

Wow. What a marvel The Magic Fish is; beautiful and poignant, it hits a perfect sweet spot of being suitable for children and teens as well as adults.

The central story is about Tiền, a 13 year old Vietnamese-American boy, who reads fairy tales with his mother. It's a lovely personal tradition that really shows the warmth between mother and son.

The story alternates between the present with Tiền, illustrated in shades of red; interspersed with the fairy tales they read together in blues and violets; and finally, there are flashbacks to Tiền's parents leaving Vietnam, in yellow. It's a simple conceit that makes it easy to follow the story without getting confused between the stories.

Trung Le Nguyen's art is gorgeous. It's simultaneously simple and complex, childlike and mature. The detail on the character's hair is particularly gorgeous. ( )