Real life isn’t a fairytale… but we can all have our own happy endings 💫
A graphic novel about Tiến, a middle school Vietnamese-American boy trying to connect with his parents despite their linguistic, cultural, and generational gaps. He wants to be able to tell them that he is gay, and through the fairytales they read together, he is finding the language to do so.
Vietnamese-American middle schooler trying to come out to his immigrant mom through fairy tales… do I even need to explain?! This was such a cute, heartfelt, and well-written story 🥰. I loved the whimsical art style of the fairy tales, the journey of Tiến’s self-confidence, and the exploration of his mom’s background and struggles as well. The story is less about Tiến’s struggle to grapple with or accept his identity, and more about finding the language to communicate it with the people he loves, which is something I think a lot of queer folks and children of immigrants will be able to relate to :”).
Things I liked ✅
Things I disliked ❌
“To me, language is a map to help you figure out where you are. If you can’t read the map, you’re lost.”
This line was really powerful to me because even though Tiến’s mom was talking about how she and Tiến had a difficult time understanding each other in English and Vietnamese, I also interpretated it to mean that it is challenging to understand and navigate your feelings and identity when you don’t have the tools (i.e. language) to do so.
“The space between two shores is the ocean and being caught in between feels like drowning. And, really, what is the point of tears among so much salt water?”
💔💔💔