Lunar New Year Love Story

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.

Over the course of the book, Valentina learns that she has been lied to by multiple people her entire life, and the revelations rock her world and cause her to look for community beyond her best friend, Bernice. She joins a lion dance troupe and meets a boy named Les, who is sort of a flirt and attention hog, but somehow they click. She begins to question her destiny and also goes on a surprising path of discovery, which includes her getting more familiar with her heritage, the local Vietnamese-American community, and Les's sullen cousin Jae.

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.

The Magic Fish

The Magic Fish is a gorgeous and touching book that melds together contemporary life with fairy tales. Its main character is Tiến, a teenage boy who struggles with a number of identity issues. His parents are Vietnamese, immigrants who fled a tyrannical situation and who have been separated from their family.

Tiến tries to bridge a language gap with them (particularly his mother) by sharing stories, fairy tales that transcend culture.  Over the course of this book, there are three tales told, versions of Cinderella, the Little Mermaid, and the Magic Fish, and they are told by three different people, which speaks to how people use story to both communicate and cope with difficult circumstances.

At school, Tiến tries to fit in with his friends and wants nice clothes to go to a school dance, but he also knows that his family's financial circumstances mean that he has to make do with his mom's sewing. Also, he's gay and is looking for ways to come out to his friends and family. He is horrified when he does research and learns that there is no word in Vietnamese for gay, imaging the cultural implications of that idea. And matters are further complicated when a teacher tries to help him by referring him to a priest.

This book works in so many ways because it beautifully plugs readers into immediate experiences. Tiến is drawn to seem small and vulnerable, with his large, round eyeglasses, but he proves to be strong and resilient over the course of the book. When fairy tales are recounted, the drawings and colors become colorful and grandiose. There are exquisite gowns, stars, and sparkles that make things appropriately otherworldly. 

But in between this space of vulnerability/pain and magic/wonder, the characters communicate profound ideas and share feelings in a spectacular and unexpected fashion. This book is beautiful to behold in terms of artwork, but its plot is also splendidly moving, a tribute to the redemptive power of narrative. Its ending left me tingling.

This book's creator Trung Le Nguyen is also known as Trungles. The Magic Fish is his debut graphic novel, but he has drawn a number of fairy tale and romance comics for anthologies published by Oni Press, Boom! Studios, and Image Comics. He speaks about his work in this interview.

All the reviews I've read of this book have been glowing. Avery Kaplan wrote, "The Magic Fish is a book that exists between two points: fairy tales and personal experiences, Vietnam and the United States, mother and child, words and pictures, signifier and signified. It incorporates all of these elements into its whole, and rather than diminish any of them, the ultimate effect is to amplify them all." Kirkus Reviews gave it a starred review that concluded, "Beautifully illustrates how sharing old stories can be the best way to learn how to share new ones." Amanda MacGregor called it "beautiful and moving," adding, "this book will stick with me."

The Magic Fish was published by Random House Graphic, and they offer more info about it here.

Green Lantern: Legacy

Last year, DC Comics started an imprint that published YA book versions of their characters written by prominent YA authors. I read one of the first books, Mera: Tidebreaker, because I like the character and was interested to see how these books looked. I really enjoyed it, and so I turned to another book I have heard good things about, Green Lantern: Legacy. I think it helped me that I have a familiarity with the Green Lantern Corps and its complicated comic book history, but I don't think it would be a necessity for a new reader just checking out this book. What I found here was a very compelling story that left me yearning for more. Its foundations lay in a familiar, human story, which I think helped sell the superheroics better.

This book's protagonist is Tai Pham, a 13-year-old boy of Vietnamese descent who lives and works with his family in their market in Coast City. This market is one of the cornerstones of the Vietnamese-American community, and it is frequently a target of racist attacks. His grandmother is a very prominent figure in the community, and when she dies he learns that not only was she a Green Lantern, one of the greatest protectors of the Earth, but her power ring has chosen him as its new bearer. That means that a huge burden has been placed on his shoulders, and he has to learn how to deal with it.

However he does not have to go it alone. He gets mentoring from veteran Green Lantern John Stewart, and also receives support from two of his close friends, who form a sort of "Scooby gang." Much of this book focuses on him finding his footing while also dealing with the overtures of billionaire Xander Griffin, who wants to gentrify Pham's neighborhood. I very much appreciated how unique this Green Lantern tale was, with Tai incorporating his cultural heritage not only into his costume but into how he exercised his powers. I found much to celebrate in this book.

Although I found this book very compelling and could not stop reading it, I also felt in hindsight that it is only so much prologue. It spends a long time setting up this character and his world, but in the end it seems more like the launching point for a series rather than a complete journey on its own terms. Certainly, I'd be up for more adventures of Tai (as far as I can tell, no sequel is of yet forthcoming), but I was a bit disappointed when this book just suddenly ended. Still, if the worst thing about a book is that it left me wanting more, that's not a bad thing.

This book was written by Minh Lê and drawn by Andie Tong. Lê is the author of a number of picture books, most notably Drawn Together, a multiple award-winner illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat. As far as I can tell, this is Tong's debut graphic novel. His artwork here is typical  of superhero comics, and he excels at capturing people's facial expressions and energetic postures. I think this style especially pops thanks to the admirable coloring by Sarah Stern. Lê and Tong speak more about their work on this book in this preview.

All of the reviews I have read of this book have been positive. Kirkus Reviews concluded, "Community and compassion combine in this fresh take on comic-book tradition." Tim Chu wrote, "For the middle school reader, this graphic novel is a quick read that can open up a new universe of stories." There are more reviews at Goodreads where this book currently has a 4.20 (out of 5) star rating.

Green Lantern: Legacy was published by DC Comics, and they offer a preview and more about it here.