American Born Chinese

American Born Chinese follows three distinct yet related stories. The first is that of the Monkey King who tries to shed his “monkeyness” and his battles with “he who is” to accept himself in his true form. The second is the story of Jin the son of Chinese immigrants who, with his family, moves from San Francisco to a practically all white environment. After the move Jin struggles over the years to find his place in this new world. He also battles over his feelings for a girl in his class. The third story is that of Danny and his cousin Chin-kee. Every year Chin-kee comes to visit Danny and causes Danny such shame that he has to change schools. Chin-kee is the physical embodiment of every negative stereotype about Chinese people.

This book was absolutely fantastic. Yang is able to achieve a rich and layered story within the confines of a 233 paged graphic novel. He is able to use the medium, the three stories and his writing to take the reader beyond the littoral and into the minds of the characters. I could not put this book down and started to read it again from the beginning as soon as I finished it. He was able to get his points across without being heavy handed or preachy. I think that this book went further towards me understanding the feelings of being the odd one out better than any other that I have read.

Age range: 14+
Ranking: Quality – 5/5 Popularity 4/5