The book follows Tiến and his family through a period of griefs and struggles centering around familial relationships.

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen is a stellar graphic novel that shows the interplay between life and literature and the ways storytelling can empower and shape us. Stories help us contextualize the world around us and at a young age has been shown to shape our empathy and help us grow. ‘ We tell ourselves stories in order to live,’ wrote Joan Didion. And listen to us on the Book Review podcast. (Ages 4 to 8)įollow New York Times Books on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, sign up for our newsletter or our literary calendar. THE LITTLE MERMAID By Jerry Pinkney 48 pp. THE MAGIC FISH By Trung Le Nguyen 256 pp. Jen Wang is the author of the graphic novels “The Prince and the Dressmaker” and “Stargazing.” She learns to embrace the power of her voice rather than sacrifice her autonomy. Melody is celebrated rather than punished for her curiosity. Those who found the heroine in Andersen’s version too passive will also appreciate this version’s theme of empowerment. Melody’s human treasures are lovingly rendered with rich detail, and the depictions of the magical sea creatures, including the Sea Witch, are haunting. He brings both land and underwater worlds to life with the realism of his drawings and the warmth of his palette.

This visual dynamic is particularly effective in illustrating the affinity between Melody and Zion, two fundamentally different beings. Pinkney creates a vivid watercolor world in which all the characters, human and mermaid alike, are Black. These visuals, combined with the thoughtfulness and compassion with which Nguyen handles Tien’s emotional journey, make “The Magic Fish” especially inventive. Traditional Vietnamese imagery, full of references to shoujo manga and classic storybooks, replaces Eurocentric aesthetics.

Fairy tale tropes are applied with deliberate pacing and lushly drawn details that add emphasis to scenes of romance or melancholy. Nguyen is a gifted storyteller and the graphic novel format plays to his strengths. When language fails, stories help them speak.

Tien is anguished by the stigma of being queer and falling in love. Hien is anguished by the ocean that separates her from her family in Vietnam. Each tale allows Tien and Hien to reflect on their own lives and connect to each other. The third story is a retelling of “The Little Mermaid,” with an unexpected twist at the end. In the other, based on the Vietnamese “Tam Cam,” an evil stepmother attempts to vanquish a girl who receives help from a magical fish. In one, based on the German “Allerleirauh,” a girl trapped in a family curse falls in love with a prince. The first two stories are “relatives of the Cinderella fairy tale,” according to an author’s note.