Young Adult Fantasy #1

Book Review For:

Yang, Gene Luen. 2006. AMERICAN BORN CHINESE. 1^st ed. New York: First Second.
        ISBN 9781596431522

Three separate stories are introduced: one with the Monkey King, one with Jin Wang, and one with Danny. All three characters deal with prejudice and struggle to become secure with their own identity. Because of the Monkey King, the deities, and supernatural abilities, this novel would be considered a Young Adult Fantasy. Teens can likely relate to Jin Wang, who doesn’t quite fit in and awkwardly makes a fool of himself whenever the girl that he has a crush on is around, and to Danny, who is embarrassed to no end about his Chinese cousin who comes to visit. Teens may not have a Chinese cousin, but there is usually something that they feel insecure and embarrassed about.

Yang has created colorful graphic strips that include sounds and terrific expressions on the characters’ faces. There is also plenty of action and humor, like when Jin Wang uses the bathroom soap to wash his stinky armpits and then gets up his nerve to put his arm around the girl at the movies, only to discover that he’s left pink bubbles on her shoulder. The way that the three branches of the story are woven together at the end is truly a work of art that will stimulate brains everywhere.

After teens have read this story, educators could lead discussions on prejudiced assumptions that teens have personally witnessed and how individuals can make a difference by accepting others who are different or by speaking up. Additionally, Venn diagrams could be used by small groups of teens to compare and contrast the three different branches of the story. This could be done as a fun competition to see which group came up with the most accurate similarities and differences for certain branches of the story.

AMERICAN BORN CHINESE has won awards for the 2007 Michael L. Printz Award, the 2007 Eisner Award, the Best Graphic Album, and the 2006 National Book Award Nominee (“Gene Luen Yang: American Born Chinese”, n.d.). A SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL review also praises this graphic novel, stating “…this novel explores the impact of the American dream on those outside the dominant culture in a finely wrought story that is an effective combination of humor and drama”, and a BOOKLIST review praises the depth of the themes by saying, “The stories have a simple, engaging sweep to them, but their weighty subjects — shame, racism, and friendship — receive thoughtful, powerful examination” (“Barnes & Noble: American Born Chinese”, n.d.).

 

References

"Barnes & Noble: American Born Chinese." Barnes & Noble, accessed November 30, 2013, http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/american-born-chinese-gene-luen-yang/1100351546?ean=9780312384487

“Gene Luen Yang: American Born Chinese.” Gene Luen Yang: Humble Comics.com,

        accessed November 30, 2013, http://geneyang.com/american-born-chinese