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The Magic Fish

Trung, Le Nguyen. Graphic Novel - 2020 Teen Graphic Novel / Trung, Le Nguyen, Teen Book / Comics & Graphic Novels / General / Trung, Le Nguyen 6 On Shelf No requests on this item Community Rating: 4.8 out of 5

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Locations
Call Number: Teen Graphic Novel / Trung, Le Nguyen, Teen Book / Comics & Graphic Novels / General / Trung, Le Nguyen
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Malletts Creek Branch, Pittsfield Branch, Traverwood Branch

Location & Checkout Length Call Number Checkout Length Item Status
Downtown Teen, 1st Floor
4-week checkout
Teen Graphic Novel / Trung, Le Nguyen 4-week checkout On Shelf
Downtown Teen, 1st Floor
4-week checkout
Teen Graphic Novel / Trung, Le Nguyen 4-week checkout On Shelf
Downtown Teen, 1st Floor
4-week checkout
Teen Graphic Novel / Trung, Le Nguyen 4-week checkout On Shelf
Downtown Teen, 1st Floor
4-week checkout
Teen Graphic Novel / Trung, Le Nguyen 4-week checkout Due 03-30-2024
Downtown Teen, 1st Floor
4-week checkout
Teen Graphic Novel / Trung, Le Nguyen 4-week checkout Due 04-23-2024
Malletts Teen Books
4-week checkout
Teen Book / Comics & Graphic Novels / General / Trung, Le Nguyen 4-week checkout On Shelf
Pittsfield Teen Books
4-week checkout
Teen Book / Comics & Graphic Novels / General / Trung, Le Nguyen 4-week checkout On Shelf
Traverwood Teen Books
4-week checkout
Teen Book / Comics & Graphic Novels / General / Trung, Le Nguyen 4-week checkout On Shelf
Westgate Teen Books
4-week checkout
Teen Book / Comics & Graphic Novels / General / Trung, Le Nguyen 4-week checkout Due 03-23-2024

"Real life isn't a fairytale. But Tié̂n still enjoys reading his favorite stories with his parents from the books he borrows from the local library. It's hard enough trying to communicate with your parents as a kid, but for Tié̂n, he doesn't even have the right words because his parents are struggling with their English. Is there a Vietnamese word for what he's going through? Is there a way to tell them he's gay?"-- Provided by publisher.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

School Library Journal Review
Booklist Review
Publishers Weekly Review
Summary / Annotation
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

great book! submitted by 2025MJW on August 28, 2021, 2:06pm i absolutely LOVE this wonderful graphic novel from trung le nguyen! the art style is amazing and the storyline is perfectly weaved into the fairy tales spliced throughout the book. this is a beautiful story of coming of age, coming out, and coming together as a family interwoven with fairy tales retold in ways that improve the original theme tenfold. i highly recommend this book to anyone who can read and is old enough to comprehend the meanings of things.

Great submitted by manz on August 29, 2021, 1:18pm This book had a lot going on, and was such a great read. The art is fantastic, and I enjoyed the interspersed fairy tales. It's a unique way for the young protagonist to try to tell his mother he is gay.

Wow! submitted by Xris on January 29, 2022, 5:37pm It didn't occur to me that the LIttle Mermaid was an immigration story, but I guess it should have. I love that the author wove fairy tales together with the real lives of immigrants. And I love the LGBTQ+ spin on the LIttle Mermaid too. Will recommend to my GSA!

Stunningly beautiful submitted by gmarievincen on June 14, 2022, 11:34am Tien is a second-generation Vietnamese American teen who connects with his mother through a blend of languages and fairy tales they share between their cultures. He and his mother love each other and get along well, but he’s not quite sure how to come out to her with what seemingly little they have in common.

Nguyen’s debut graphic novel is deeply personal and endearing, a tale told through intricate art and meaningful design about bringing a family together across generations through the power of storytelling and the importance of learning to truly support and understand one another. I highly recommend giving this beauty a read!

Beautiful and Heartwarming submitted by mknappe on June 19, 2022, 5:49pm The Magic Fish is a beautiful graphic novel that will resonate with readers of all ages. The art is stunning and the story is heartwarming.

Love this! submitted by svenetianer on August 28, 2022, 11:56pm Beautiful illustration style. Perfect for kids and adults.

Beautiful submitted by Mtadams on July 15, 2023, 7:49am Dont usually read graphic novels, but this one was incredible

Absolutely necessary and delightful submitted by redwood on July 16, 2023, 8:29am In gorgeous, primary-colored panels, Trung Le Nguyen tells the story of a young Vietnamese American boy, Tien, struggling to come out to his mother. It’s set in the 1990s, which we can tell from a radio broadcast about Matthew Shepard. Tien is sweet and earnest and deeply loves his mother. They have a bit of a language barrier, so he’s genuinely unsure of how to talk to her sometimes.

Tien and his mother love reading fairy tales together, and that’s where the heart of this story lies. Three stories, revisions of the German and Vietnamese versions of Cinderella and of the Little Mermaid, each with their own visual vernacular, represent the imaginary worlds where Tien and his mother communicate. His mother is also a fascinating character—having just received U.S. citizenship, she has not seen her mother in Vietnam in eight years when she learns of her death. Immigration and war trauma contour the edges of this narrative. Tien’s Catholic school discovers his sexuality and threatens to tell his parents; a priest says all parents experience their children coming out as “a death in the family,” and having just witnessed that, Tien is terrified.

So much of what Tien and his mother go through is difficult, and yet this story has a happy ending, threaded through a brilliant reimagining of the Little Mermaid. I cry every time at the end. This graphic novel is brimming over with detail, love, and care. I discover new things each time, and I wish everyone would read it again and again.

Cover image for The magic fish


PUBLISHED
New York : Random House Graphic, [2020]
Year Published: 2020
Description: 229 p.
Language: English
Format: Graphic Novel

ISBN/STANDARD NUMBER
9781984851598

SUBJECTS
Coming out (Sexual orientation) -- Fiction.
Identity -- Fiction.
Graphic novels.