The Magic Fish

The Magic Fish

• Genre: Fiction; middle grade graphic novel
• Originally Published: 2020
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile HL400L; grades 7-9
• Structure/Length: Approx. 249 pages
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: Hiền and Tiền Phong may be mother and son, but they’re from different cultures. Tiền, born in America, sometimes struggles to communicate with his mother, Hiền, a Vietnamese immigrant who doesn’t have a strong command of the English language. They bridge that gap through fairy tales from the library. As Tiền reads these fairy tales, her English improves, but no matter which story he reads, he cannot find the right way to tell her he is gay.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Immigration; language barrier; coming out to a parent

Trung Le Nguyen, Author

• Bio: Born in 1990; he/they; is gay and non-binary; also known as Trungles; Vietnamese-American cartoonist; born in a Vietnamese refugee camp in the Philippines; moved to the United States in 1992; began drawing comics in middle school; graduated from Hamline University in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in studio art and an art history minor; their art is known for its traditional inking and penciling as well as Vietnamese imagery
• Other Works: Fauns & Fairies: The Adult Fantasy Coloring Book (2017); Adventure Time Marshall Lee Spectacular (2018); Twisted Romance #4 (2018); Star Spinner Tarot (2020)
• Awards: Harvey Award Book of the Year (2021); nominated for an Eisner Award (2021); GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Books shortlist (2021); 33^rd Lambda Literary Awards for Young Adult Literature shortlist (2021)