A review by hb_bookworm
The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

5.0

ahhh, this made my heart so happy. a lush and lovely little story, gorgeously illustrated and with a beautiful message that made me tear up at my desk on my lunch break! i really appreciated getting to see the author's notes at the end - the explanation about the different styles for each of the three storytellers was really interesting and added a depth to the story. i hadn't really thought about global fairy tales through an immigrant lens, but seeing how the story "changes as needed" was enlightening. it felt like such a gut punch reading about the homophobia Tiến experienced, both by seeing it on tv and by being subjected to conversion therapy, but i'm so glad Tiến has a happy ending (or beginning?) in terms of acceptance from his friends and family. such a beautiful graphic novel - i'll be very happy to share this title with patrons and friends!