I read this book back in 2007 when it came out. It was groundbreaking stuff, a coming of age story mixed with the Monkey King. Gene Luen Yang really tackles the hard stuff about growing up an ABC kid in America and the burning desire to fit in. It’s wonderful to see that it’s getting its own show now and such a super star cast. If you enjoy graphic novels, humor, and Asian myth, this book is for you.
Things are so different for my own kids. They don’t understand much of the sentiment of this book because they live in such a diverse community, where more kids bring lunch from home that get hot lunch. But even so, they love seeing representation on the screen so I know they will be watching this show with me.
I admit that I don’t read a lot of “book club” type books or “important” books. Mostly I read for enjoyment. This is one of the few that hits that overlap for me of being entertaining and important.
A Michael L. Printz Award winner, a National Book Award finalist, and a New York Times bestseller!
A tour-de-force by New York Times bestselling graphic novelist Gene Yang, American Born Chinese tells the story of three apparently unrelated characters: Jin Wang, who moves to a new neighborhood with his family only to discover that he’s the only Chinese-American student at his new school; the powerful Monkey King, subject of one of the oldest and greatest Chinese fables; and Chin-Kee, a personification of the ultimate negative Chinese stereotype, who is ruining his cousin Danny’s life with his yearly visits. Their lives and stories come together with an unexpected twist in this action-packed modern fable. American Born Chinese is an amazing ride, all the way up to the astonishing climax.
American Born Chinese is the winner of the 2007 Michael L. Printz Award, a 2006 National Book Award Finalist for Young People’s Literature, the winner of the 2007 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album: New, an Eisner Award nominee for Best Coloring, a 2007 Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year, and a New York Times bestseller.