American Born Chinese

by Gene Luen Yang

Lark Pien (Illustrator)

This is a tour-de-force new work by rising indie comics star Gene Yang. "American Born Chinese" maps the adolescent Chinese-American experience through three separate but interwoven stories. One story centres on Jin Wang, a Chinese-American student at an all-white California high school. Jin is plagued by jocks and bullies, so when another Chinese student transfers to the school, Jin wants nothing to do with him. Next is a comic update of the legendary story of the Monkey King, an ancient Chinese morality tale. Finally, there's the gross and surreal stereotype of Chin-Kee, the ultimate negative Chinese cliche, complete with a sitcom-style "laugh track". These three apparently unrelated tales come together in an astonishing climax - all with a mighty blast of humour, surprising poignancy and skilled artistry.

• ISBN10: 1417754494
• ISBN13: 9781417754496
• Publish Date: 5 September 2006 (first published 1 September 2006)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 7 April 2021
• Imprint: Turtleback Books
• Edition: Bound for Schools & Libraries ed.
• Format: Hardcover (Library Binding)
• Pages: 240
• Language: English

Reviews

[nannah]

This is a perfect example of how graphic novels are, in fact, real fiction. …I’m actually not sure anyone says that anymore, but if they did, this could be your counterargument!

Content warnings:
- racism, racist caricatures & racist imagery (these last two are BIG -- proceed with caution)
- antisemitism

Representation:
- the main character, his family, and his best friend are Chinese
- the best friend’s girlfriend is Japanese

American Born Chinese is about three seemingly separate stories that come together in the end:
1). Jin Wang is the only Chinese American kid at his school, and all he wants to do is fit in and get the “All-American girl” of his dreams to notice him. Unfortunately what he gets is the attention of bullies, the racist ignorance of his peers and teachers, and an ever-growing feeling of shame.
2). The monkey king is a character from one of the oldest of all Chinese stories: The Journey to the West. He’s a shapeshifter who has mastered all of the disciplines needed to achieve immortality, but he still isn’t satisfied: as the other immortals point out, he’s still a monkey. This won’t do.
3). Danny is a popular white boy whose life is “ruined” by his cousin’s annual visits. His cousin, whose name is “Chin-Kee”, and who is an outright racist caricature of a Chinese person. Every year Danny feels so embarrassed after Chin-Kee’s visits that he needs to change schools.

This graphic novel was one of the more satisfying reads of this year -- and of last year too. I’m white, so it’s hard for me to comment much on the appearance of the literal racist caricature or how he made me feel. Or how he should make anyone else feel. I’m not an immigrant either, so much of the book’s themes weren’t speaking to me as the audience, even though I could relate it to elements of my life.

Even so, I found the book powerful, especially to be talking about a part of the non-white immigrant experience that isn’t talked about much these days in YA literature (the shame, the embarrassment, and the later acceptance rather than JUST the overwhelming pride). (This isn’t me knocking on one of them; both are important)

From an actual novel standpoint, the story is beautifully crafted. While it starts of fairly slow (and a bit confusing: what does this monkey king have to do with Jin Wang in the US?), by the time things pick up and there’s a feeling that these stories aren’t as separate as you previously thought it’s time to give up going to bed. You’re reading till the end. There’s so much to reflect upon after reading too -- little details you didn’t catch about each story but now see after they came together were purposefully added.

This is a hard book to rate/review, but I’ll have to rate it as I enjoyed it and how I felt after the experience.

[Chelsea]

Usually I'm a fan of more whimsical stories but I didn't like it as much in this one. I do still think it was fun to read. I was also a little confused at the start but everything came together at the end which was actually pretty cool.
The message of this one is to always be yourself, which is much harder for some people over others. I think the author had a fun way of portraying this message so that hopefully some older kids and teen could understand it.
It's never fun to see kids bullied and in this case it's because of race which makes it even worse I think. This story could be a good wake up call for a lot of people.
A great read and highly recommend!

[inlibrisveritas]

Gene Luen Yang is one of my all time favorite comic book writers. He brings a sort of ease of to the genre despite his rather unique way of weaving complex stories.

American Born Chinese presents us with three different stories. The main story centers around a boy named Jin Wang, who is the only Chinese American in his school and finds himself increasingly embarrassed because of it. The second deals with the tale of the Monkey King, who works hard to rise about his station but in the face of opposition for his being a monkey decided to try and erase that from who he is. And lastly is the sitcom like story of Chin-Kee, a very stereotypical Chinese boy who comes to visit his cousin Danny and embarrasses him horribly. All three of the stories connect in a very interesting way, but separately they all focus on the issues involving race and self identification. Each character (Jin, the Monkey King, and Danny) all deal with race/culture shame. When they are faced with racism or embarrassment over the differences in their lives they all find a way to try and move away from what they feel is the problem, the culture itself.

Gene Luen Yang manages to present a rather simple story with a complex message in a really uniqiue way, pulling together all three of these stories into one. One of my favorite things about his work is that though the message itself leans towards their heavier side, he always finds away to include humor and just a touch of fantasy. His artwork is simply but expressive and works really well with the story he’s telling.

To me this is yet another success from him and it further cements why I love him as an author. American Born Chinese is a great read for both kids and adults, even if you’ve never picked up a graphic novel before.

[lovelybookshelf]

Originally posted on my blog, A Lovely Bookshelf on the Wall:

American Born Chinese consists of three tandem narratives. A second generation immigrant and the only Chinese-American student at his new school in a predominantly white area, Jin Wang just wants to be a typical American boy. The immortal Monkey King is a proud kung fu master who is trying to become more than just a monkey. And all-American Danny is embarrassed by his Chinese cousin Chin-Kee, who puts every Chinese stereotype into loud, off-putting action.

As I read along, I wondered what, if anything, these storylines had to do with each other. Were they merely different perspectives on common themes, since all three addressed issues such as racism and intolerance? When the connections between these three narratives were revealed: wow! I was stunned. An entirely new and profound layer of understanding opened up for me.

I loved the artwork and the message of this one. Though aimed at grades 7 and up, it's a great selection for adults as well. It's an incredibly fast read, so it would be a nice pick for a read-a-thon.