Stephanie
Written on Jun 1, 2014
A cute book with some great lessons!
Gene Luen Yang is the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature and is a MacArthur Fellow, a recipient of what's popularly known as the MacArthur Genius Grant.
A New York Times Notable Children's Book (Young Adult) for 2011
Smackdown!
Video Games vs. Medical School!
Which will win the battle for our hero's attention in Gene Luen Yang's new graphic novel?
Dennis Ouyang lives in the shadow of his parents' high expectations. They want him to go to med school and become a doctor. Dennis just wants to play video games--and he might actually be good enough to do it professionally.
But four adorable, bossy, and occasionally terrifying angels arrive just in time to lead Dennis back onto the straight and narrow: the path to gastroenterology. It's all part of the plan, they tell him. But is it? This powerful piece of magical realism brings into sharp relief the conflict many teens face between pursuing their dreams and living their parents'.
Partnered with the deceptively simple, cute art of newcomer Thien Pham, Gene Yang has returned to the subject he revolutionized with American Born Chinese. Whimsical and serious by turns, Level Up is a new look at the tale that Yang has made his own: coming of age as an Asian American.
- ISBN10 1596437146
- ISBN13 9781596437142
- Publish Date 7 June 2011
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 17 March 2021
- Publish Country US
- Publisher Roaring Brook Press
- Imprint First Second
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 160
- Language English
Reviews
A cute book with some great lessons!
inlibrisveritas
Written on Sep 9, 2013
Level Up is a quirky, fun, and emotional graphic novel by one of my favorite graphic novel authors. This is a coming of age story focused around Dennis, a college student dealing with his father’s death and his video game addiction.
I really liked the set up and style of this one. It’s kind of laid back and really delves into the problems a lot of college students have…distractions. In college everything can be a distraction; gaming, friends, family, stress. So in that aspect the book is very easy to relate to. It also has a surprising touch of emotion as Dennis slowly comes to terms with the death of his father as well as the path his father wanted him to pursue. Of course he doesn’t go through all of this without help and there enters the four greeting card angels and their good intentions…that turn into bossy suffocation.
I love watching Dennis learn and grow as a person and as a student, and I love that not everything with his father was a cut and dry as he thought it was. It a touching coming of age story that can really be enjoyed by everyone especially those in college or about to enter it.