Using the scaffolding of fairy tales, Nguyen creates a beautiful story that focuses on a Vietnamese mother and her American son. Absolutely exquisite storytelling, and a beautiful, quiet gem of a graphic novel.

It took me a little while to get into this, and to understand the interplay between the story of a family caught between shifting cultures, centered on mother and son, and the fairy tales they read to each other as a method of bringing cohesion to their cultural references. But I absolutely loved it.

The Magic Fish is a beautiful own voices story that weaves together narratives of fairy tales, immigration, coming out, and more. A can't miss book for fall 2020 and a graphic novel that belongs in every library collection!

This is a really beautiful graphic novel by Trung Le Nguyen. It tells the story of Tien who is gay and is having trouble telling his parents. His mother tells him fairy tales that come from Vietnam where she was born which is how they connect with each other.
The artwork is amazing and the fairy tales that are told are amazing. This is an amazing coming of age graphic novel that deals with the importance of culture and story telling.

I received an ARC via NetGalley. I want to thank the publisher and author for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting graphic novel. I enjoyed the stories within the story. I liked how the characters used these stories to help convey the things they couldn't necessarily say, or might not know how to say. The art complimented the story nicely and I liked the limited color pallet used. It made it easier to distinguish between the different stories and memories. This one is worth checking out.

A wonderful story about a young man wondering how to tell his parents about his sexuality. An immigrant story about the power of stories and the struggle of not having a shared language. Beautiful fairy tale imagery.

A magical juxtaposition of traditional fairy tale archetypes and the immigrant/LGBTQIA+ experience. This graphic managed to not be pedantic but still to acutely speak about the intersectionality that exists in marginalized communities. Oh, and it's absolutely breathtaking.

Received a digital ARC
OMG, this book was so good! I was a little hesitant at first, but this novel gracefully weaves the story of the main character Tien, his mother, and fables together to make a meaningful story. The differences in color help to inform readers as to what story they are reading about. This aspect helps to organize the story and make it cohesive. I really can not express how much I loved this graphic novel!
#TheMagicFish #NetGalley

AAAAAH!!!! Bestill my heart! This was gorgeous!
Loved the use of different colors to represent the difference between memories, the present time and the fairy tales. LOOOOOVED the relationship between mother and son, love the friendships and love the actual fairy tales. Stunning book!

Beautiful graphic novel that interweaves two fairy tales (Cinderella & The Little Mermaid) across cultures and the lived experiences of a teen coming out to his mother and his mother's lived experience as a refugee and immigrant. The story is compelling and the artwork is exquisite.

I don't know if this book is very well titled. The magic fish was only a part of one of the stories being read by the boy and his mother. I didn't think it was an integral part of the story (but I might have missed something). Overall, good story (and stories within the story), characters, and artwork. I hate that the school administration got involved in the boy's life so much and got a priest involved. I hate that he wasn't able to tell his mother himself, but I'm glad that she accepted him for who he is.

I have been following Trung Le Nguyen’s work on social media for a few years now, so I was extremely excited when I heard that he had written and illustrated a YA graphic novel. I have always felt that his work is reminiscent of both manga and classic fairy tale illustrations, which made it a perfect fit for the fairy tale centric The Magic Fish. The novel is told in three different parts – one is the perspective of the main character, Tien, one is the memories of his mother, and one is the fairy tale stories they read together. Each part has its own limited color palette, which is not only stunning visually but a great storytelling device. Each perspective is easily distinguished by the reader without appearing disjointed. Nguyen tackles two sensitive subjects – immigration and coming out – gracefully and beautifully through the parallels of the fairy tales and Tien’s life. The similarities between some of the character designs are subtle but powerful. For example, Tien’s crush in real life and Prince Maxwell from the first fairy tale look remarkably similar, and I thought that was a nice touch. I think the novel’s central themes and captivating illustrations will resonate with both teens and adults. I can’t wait to order this for the Teen Graphic Novel section of my library!

The Magic Fish is a middle grades graphic novel about a boy named Tien who reads fairytale stories to his mother while trying to figure out how to tell his own story. Tien wants to somehow explain to his Vietnamese arents that he likes boys, but he struggles to find a way to explain to them in words they could understand. Using a variety of fairytales told around the world, the book acknowledges Asian folklore that might be different from the ones known in primarily English-speaking countries. Teachers could use this graphic novel to discuss the variety of retellings of one story that interrelate with each other, as well as provide students with a new perspective on the fairytales that they have grown up with. Tien's struggle with finding a way to translate what he is going through at school so that his parents can understand could help students with immigrant parents connect with the literature, while also addressing how important communication can impact someone's life. Trung Le Nguyen's beautifully drawn illustrations add an extra depth to the graphic novel while not overpowering the overall story. I would recommend using this book in middle school, but high school students in 9th and 10th grade would also be a great audience.

The Magic Fish is a wonderful graphic novel about inter-generational communication struggles all tied up in the context of fairy tales and how they can change shape in different cultures. It was just so, so amazing. And oh wow, the art. The art! I will read anything Nguyen does because oh my goodness their work is gorgeous!!

This was absolutely stunning! I wasn't sure if I was feeling the art style and coloring at first, but I'm so glad that I stuck with it. The way that the different stories wove together was so beautful. I really appreciated the author note at the end and really enjoyed seeing where their inspiration for different elements came from. A beautiful story all around.

I kept hearing about this title during various SDCC 2020 online panels and knew I had to take a look at it. It is full of beautiful artwork and coloring, even with such a limited color palette. I love the way the story is told through fairy tales...and ultimately that ends up being the perfect way to communicate feelings between mother and son. What a lovely way to express how important communication is. I also like that this handles difficult topics in such an accessible way to all kinds of readers.

This was very smartly done. The story is multi-layered and complex, and presenting it as a graphic novel and strategic use of coloring provided an elegant solution for the challenges that the narrative presented.

I received this book to review as an ARC on Netgalley.

Wow. This was stunning. I recently heard Trung speak a little about the intentions and process of this graphic novel during a queer Comic Con @ home panel. Trung beautifully uses color to express the power of stories, history, and emotion. The illustrations are simplistic and complex at the same time. Rarely have I read a YA book, especially a graphic novel, that follows both the teen and the parent's perspectives. This book beautifully illustrated the way stories connect to our experiences through generations, and the way stories reflect and shape our own identities, including the way we connect with those we love through story--both fiction and memory. I loved the color choices, and was moved to tears multiple times. I think often, queer people are not allowed to see ourselves in narratives, so to see the way narratives can be rewritten or shape lives was beautiful.

This book was a complex and stunning look at intergenerational experiences, sacrifice, and connections based around love and coming-of-age.

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen is a beautifully illustrated graphic novel that transverses conversation through fairy tale.
Tien, a first gen Vietnamese child and his mother Helen work on their language skills together by reading stories together and to one another. The artwork is gorgeous, each story being told has a particular art style to reference the storytellers experiences and it is gorgeous and wonderful. The color palette is pretty singular in use but man is it an amazing choice, it does wonders to bring attention to the art style.
Mother and son clearly love each other very much but don’t know how to discuss the things that need discussing. Tien suffers from a secret he’s not sure how his parents will react to and Helen feels the pull of being from two worlds, the family she left behind in Vietnam, and the life and family she’s making in America.
Near the end Helen goes back to see her family in Vietnam and her aunt tells her a story. When Helen asks if that’s really how it goes her aunt informs her it’s an old story and details change as things change and the story becomes yours as you tell it, and that is so true and wonderful to think about.
I definitely got misty eyed reading this, it’s a beautiful story.

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Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Tien and his parents immigrated to the United States from Vietnam. Tien reads fairy tale stories to his mother in order to help her with learning English. Because of this language barrier Tien doesn't know how to tell his parents that he is gay.

This book doesn't apply much to my personal experiences in life because I do not fit into any of these marginalized groups. But this story really hit my heart. By the end I was crying.

I think that the artist use of colors to change from the fairy tales to the real world and even the mothers past was brilliant. At first I was saddened by the lack of rich color and then I started to see the pattern and I love it!

The part in the story where the mother is in Vietnam and is talking with her Aunt about this feeling of loose of her culture and also not feeling like she fits in with her son because she is stuck someone in the middle really made me think. About all the people who might not feel that they fit perfectly into a specific category and so they feel like they do not belong anywhere at all. This book can bring a change and understanding to people who might not have thought through the struggles of immigrants or people that are "Other".

I loved the re imagined fairy tales and how some had dark twists. I also like the idea that fairy tales can change when they need to. Often people look at fairy tales and talk about how they make women look weak and how they champion a man needing to save her. Because these are just stories that we tell, we can change them.

The part of this book that got me crying was the end where Tien's mother changes the little mermaid story so that she can show him that she understands who he is and that she accepts him and loves him unconditionally. As a mother this really made my heart swell. We never want to see our children feel un-accepted and unloved.