The 2025 Eisner Award winner for Best Publication for Teens, Lunar New Year Love Story is a book that I approached much differently than I usually do when I read a graphic novel. Typically, I read through one in as close to one sitting as I can. I tend to read voraciously and at a fast clip, but this one I took my time with, reading each chapter individually and taking time over a few days to complete the book. It worked really well, because this book's narrative is set over the space of a year and is divided into chapters that each had so much going on in terms of plot, revelations, and emotions that the extra time helped me develop my thoughts and get ready for what was to come. So, I treated it like a serial comic, even though I had the entire graphic novel.
I have to say that the payoff for me was a great one, as this was one of the most satisfying books I have read this year and the ending gave me the tingles. It is a love story of sorts, but it is based strongly in family and community relationships. The plot revolves around Valentina, a Vietnamese-American teen whose mother died when she was young and is being raised by her father. They tend to be a self-contained unit, not even having much interaction with her paternal grandmother, who is a vivacious character who loves cooking and poker. She learns that her family is cursed to be unlucky in love while also developing a strange imaginary relationship with St. Valentine. Eventually, she enters into a dire bargain with Saint V., vowing to abandon love and give her heart away to him if she cannot find true love in one calendar year.
I feel I am not doing this book justice with my descriptions, and I am trying not to give too much of it away, but it is simply fantastic. The artwork and narrative meld to make a very moving and impactful story, and it deserves the many accolades it has received.
Lunar New Year Love Story was created by powerhouse graphic novelists Gene Luen Yang and LeUyen Pham. Yang is one of the premier comics creators working today and a former National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. Additionally, he was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship and has also won the Printz Award for his graphic novel American Born Chinese. He has won multiple Eisner Awards. He has explored themes of immigration, belief, identity, and growing up in his many works. Pham is one of the premier children's book illustrators working today, the winner of the Caldecott Medal for her work on the Bear Came Along. She is known for her collaborations on the popular Friends series of graphic novels and The Princess in Black picture books with Shannon Hale. And she also drew the Vampirina Ballerina series of picture books that were adapted into a Disney cartoon. Both creators speak about the book and romance in this interview.
All of the reviews I have read about this book have sung its praises. Thúy Đinh wrote of its use of lion imagery and how "this dual, transcontinental symbol of life and death, truth and mystery, reason and emotion, male and female, gracefully captures the complicated heritage of characters impacted by their parents' diasporic experiences." Kirkus Reviews concluded their starred entry, "A sparkling romance anchored by a poignant coming-of-age story." Zack Quaintance commented on the "stellar" artwork, adding that "the character acting is strong yet distinct, making for an immersive reading experience."
Lunar New Year Love Story was published by First Second, and they offer a preview and more information about it here.
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