American Born Chinese

American Born Chinese
by Gene Luen Yang
233 pages
Graphic Novel, Chinese American Juvenile Fiction
First Second, Square Fish Publishing

Winner of the Michael L Prinz Award
Finalist for the 2006 National Book Awards
First graphic novel recognized by the National Book Foundation

Silly monkey god’s trying to feel acepted, a young boy with a Chinese cousin, and images of a little boy in the back seat, hugging a robot and a lone tear sliding down one cheek, all combined to form a whole tale, a story that cannot be forgotten.  From the first page, until the last there is nothing in Gene Yang’s art and words that is less than perfect. The story twists and turns and finaly merges with such outstanding care and ease. The main story is that of an immigrant chinese boy and his experiences growing up, the way he is treated, and the way he feels about himself.

American Born Chinese is clever, sarcastic, brutal, and %100 honest. It doesn’t cut american’s any slack in our steriotypes of others, and doesn’t cut the Chinese any either in the ones they have of Americans, and even more importantly of themselves. It feels so good that Yang brought the unspoken issues into words and images, I felt he wrote as to lift a weight off, and it worked.

This was a refreshing read, one that dispelled myths and created truths. The amazing thing is that it can be read on many different levels, so everyone reading would be on their own level of understanding of what is happening and the feelings of the characters. The more you know about China and the history, the deeper Yang will take you with him.

I enjoyed so much about this, but if I sat here and told you, then it would ruin it if you haven’t read it yet, I couldn’t get over the twists, snaps and turns. What seemed so unreal was how Yang gathered up the stories in such a seamless, and yet non-tacky manner. It was so good. I certainly recommend it to graphic novel lovers, to anyone interested in different cultures, but especially this would be a great book for young Asian Americans. Yang’s strongest shout in American Born Chinese is for Chinese Americans to be proud of who they are, not apologize or ever make excuses for their culture, their parents or themselves. Perfectly outstanding!

And seriously, could Yang be any funnier, I love the picture of with the puppet sitting on the drum, and this one with the computer is too sweet. The guy has a sense of humor, no question!

Gene Luen Yang author website

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