American Born Chinese

"I liked the initial momentum and setup, and I even liked the concept of the final twist, but the execution felt a bit dry throughout and kinda fell flat at the end. Definetly worth a read though if the message of it resonates with you."

"WOW! I loved this so much! 3 stories come together in a way I honestly never would have guessed, and each story was interesting and hilarious on its own. American Born Chinese is an important yet humorous commentary on the Asian American experience and the importance of being yourself."

"Re-read this as I'm working my way through all the Printz winners, and although I understood it more this time, still not a fan. It's an odd story, although making more sense at the conclusion, the ending is rushed and too quickly resolved."

"When I got this book from the library, I was not expecting it to be as impactful as it was. Totally recommend! "

"read this for school— really great art and compelling story"

"It's quick and easy to read bc of the pictures but it's not shallow either"

"Allison Freeman<br/><br/>APA Citation:<br/><br/>Yang, G. L. (2006). <i>American Born Chinese</i>. New York: First Second.<br/> <br/>Genre: Multicultural <br/><br/>Award: Michael L. Printz winner in 2007<br/><br/>Format: Graphic Novel<br/><br/>Selection Process: Library Journal review <br/><br/>Cornog, M. (2007). American Born Chinese. <i>Library Journal, 132</i>(5), 54. Retrieved from EBSCOhost<br/><br/>Review:<br/>Gene Luen Yang weaves three stories from the perspective of three different main characters into one grand climax that connects all of three stories and their characters to one another in this wildly entertaining graphic novel. <br/><br/>The first story told throughout the book is the tale of the Monkey King. The Monkey King is a monkey and a deity. He is invited to a dinner party but is refused entrance because he is not wearing shoes. He is slighted by the other deities because he is a monkey, so the Monkey King beats the other deities to a pulp, leaves the party determined to be more then just a monkey and to become the Great Sage. He trains his mind and body to fulfill the principles of invincibility and decides to head out on his own to leave the universe behind. He is stopped by Tze-Yo-Tzu, the universes creator and is imprisoned under a giant rock as punishment for his bad behavior. He is released from his prison under the condition that he assists Wong Lai-Tsao, a priest, on his journey west. Along the journey, the Monkey King finds redemption and comes to terms with being a monkey. <br/><br/>The second story is told from the perspective of Danny. Danny is an American white boy with a crush on his lab partner Melanie, plays on the basketball team and has a good friend on the team by the name of Steve. Everything could fall apart when his Chinese cousin by the name of Chin-Kee comes to visit. Chin-Kee has visited Danny from China once every year since he was in eighth grade and each year, after Chin-Kee annual visit, Danny has to change schools because he dresses like a stereotypical Chinaman, speaks bad English with a Chinese accent, and tortures Danny with his pore manners and obscene behavior. Danny is going to be forced, yet again, to change schools if he doesn’t do something drastic and soon.<br/><br/>The third story is from the perspective of Jin Wang, a young Chinese-American boy who moves to a new neighborhood in a mostly white suburban area from Chinatown. He begins going to a new school where he is bullied and made fun of because he is one of the few multicultural children in the school. He is in school for a couple years when Wei-Chen, another Chinese-American boy, starts school in his grade. Slowly, over time, they become good friends and through his encouragement he finally asks out his crush Amelia. He is then encouraged to break up with Amelia by her friend Greg because he doesn’t think he is right for her. He breaks off their date and is angry, upset and embarrassed. He makes a terrible mistake and says some awful things to Wei-Chen.<br/><br/>All three of these stories weave in and out of each other and finally clash in a crazy but fulfilling ending for all of the characters involved in the stories. The themes of racism, stereotypes and eventual acceptance run throughout the stories especially with the character Chin-Kee, whose name sounds like the derogatory term for Chinese “chink,” and his character has the stereotypical extremely slanted eyes, traditional Chinese garb, Chinese style hat and iconic, long hair braid. The pictures are colorful, bright and almost childish in their depictions of the characters but the style is unique, entertaining in it’s simplicity and was akin to the old 1950’s sitcom where applause would be heard at specific times and laughter was on cue. Gene Luen Yang created a graphic novel that told an interesting mix of stories and revealed the stereotypical and racist things said and done to people of Asian or specifically Chinese descent. Recommended. Grades 8+<br/>"

"American Born Chinese is told in 3 different stories. The first is the story of the Monkey King. The second is the story of Jin Wang. And the third is the story of Danny and Chin-Kee. Each of these stories is about changing who you are in order to confirm. For most of the book the stories are completely separate, and it was kind of confusing as to how they would connect. For how intricate each story was, their convergence seemed kind of forced and fast. I would have preferred the story to have more connections.<br/>This story was perfect as a graphic novel. It wouldn’t have been nearly as good in any other format. The cartoons were fun and really brought the story to life. <br/>The morale of this story is to accept who you are and resist assimilation. There is also the message of treating people as equals. Jin treated Wei-Chen as less than, and his hurtful actions sent Wei-Chen down a negative path. Actions can have unattended consequences. <br/>"

"As an Asian/European-American, this hit pretty close to home. I remember trying to erase my Asian heritage as a kid back in grade school, only to realize that it is okay to embrace both your cultures (it only took me a decade!)."