Lunar New Year Love Story

Lunar New Year Love Story
Gene Luen Yang
Leuyen Pham, Illustrator
FirstSecond, 2024
345 pages

Val loves Valentine's Day. Every year as February 14th rolls around her imaginary friend, a little cherubic cupid, appears and the two make valentine's together to distribute to Val's friends, single Dad, and departed mother in heaven. The tradition continues up to Val's freshmen year in high school, when the ritual backfires, forcing Val to realize that maybe Valentine's Day is stupid. Out of the blue Dad's estranged mother arrives back in her life and drags her to church, where Val comes face to face with Saint Valentine, who looks gloomy and completely different from lovable cupid. Now replacing cupid, Saint Valentine visits Val when she's sad and lonely and strikes a bargain. Val has one year to find love or sacrifice her heart to the creepy ghost-saint. It looks like Val might win when she meets handsome and confident Les, who gets her involved in lion dancing. It is here that she reconnects with classmate Jae, who has troubles of his own. As time progresses Val learns more about her mother and secrets are revealed. She can only find peace and keep Saint Valentine at bay when she is dancing inside the lion suit. The only person who understands is Jae, but he keeps her at arms length. Will Val fall in love by the year's end or is she doomed to live out her life alone?

Printz winning graphic novelist, Yang, takes the back seat in illustration to tell a teen love story with layers. He is a great artist and I would be skeptical about anyone taking over the illustration, except for Pham, who is one of the best in the field. The two are a dream-team and the words and pictures work together seamlessly to convey this heartfelt tale. More than a love story, this story takes place within the framework of the American-Asian experience, using Valentine's Day and the Lunar New Year as anchors. More than teen love, family issues, forgiveness, trust, and healing are all explored. All the characters, teens and adults alike, are both fabulous and flawed and certainly well developed. The full color illustrations are expertly penned and Phan is intentional with color, helping us to understand Val's depression and the appearance of the ghost of Saint Valentine. There is a full page visual at the end that uses color to bring the story to a satisfying climax. My only complaint is the inclusion of a shushing librarian, which is, much like Jersey jokes, low hanging fruit and unkind to the book's potential cheerleaders. A little bonus at the end by the author's notes offers an update on the characters with a little plot twist on the final page that made me cry. So far, my favorite book of the year!