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.
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!
