Gene Luen Yang

Gene Yang

Alternates three interrelated stories about the problems of young Chinese Americans trying to participate in the popular culture. Presented in comic book format.

American Born Chinese

Sarah Sammis

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang was a recent random pick from my library's graphic novel collection. I finished it last month and I'm still actively thinking about it – the sign of a great book.

It has three stories woven together. Jin Wang is starting at a new school only to be the only Chinese American there. Meanwhile Danny feels like his life is being ruined by his obnoxious living stereotype, Chin-Kee. Finally there's a lovely retelling of the Monkey King legend.

I fell in love with the graphic novel on the first page where Jin Wang describes his parents meeting and falling in love at San Francisco State. It's a place I know well and it was a way to connect with the story. I also enjoyed the retelling of the Monkey King legend although I had trouble seeing how the two were connected.

When Chin-Kee burst on the scene I had to struggle to read through his bits. He's so over top. He's worse than the portrayal of the Chinese in Doctor Who and the Talons of Weng-Chiang. I stuck with the novel because I wanted to see how the other two plots played out. Plus I was curious why Danny who appears to be a typical WASP kid would have an obnoxious Chinese cousin. I'm glad I stuck with the book because the three plots come together perfectly.

Had I been more observant I would have seen the ending coming. I know from other reviews that it is possible to connect the dots. I was just too busy enjoying the graphic novel to think a more critical level. So read the book, keep your eyes open and see if you can put pieces together.

As wild and wise as a teen book can be.  The graphics propel the plot and create the knots that tie the seemingly disparate stories together.  

Rebecca Feightner

Smart use of Journey to the West, loved the way it comes together at the end.  

Jonathan Santoro

Ryan 

Laura Mauler

I get the moral of the story, and I liked most of the journey of the story. However, I felt like the end was very rushed, like the author just wanted to be done with it and so left out a lot of the build-up that would have made it all make sense. To sum it up in a word: anticlimactic.

This comic book is definitely not for children, although the illustrations would make readers think so. This YA book was a quick and interesting read.

Jeweliet Coffee

Alina

It divided the book into three stories.

This first one is based on a Chinese folktale about The Monkey King. Over thousands of years, he mastered all heavenly disciplines. His desire to join the gods is rejected, since he is a monkey.

Another story is about Jin Wang, a boy who moves from Chinatown to a predominantly white suburb of San Francisco. He struggles to fit in at his new school, and he faces many stereotypes. His only friend is Wei Chen.

In the third tale, Danny is a white American boy whose Chinese cousin, Chin Kee, comes to see him every year. His Chinese cousin humiliated Danny after settling in at his new school.

I really like the artwork.There is a lot of insight into cultural identity issues, stereotypes, and privilege in the book, but I didn’t understand how the three stories relate to one another.

There is a twist ending to these seemingly unrelated three tales.

If you’re looking for a quick read, I would recommend this American-born Chinese book.

At first I wasn't going to rate this because I don't connect with the story and it didn't feel fair. But then I thought about what the story was. And sure, I'm white so I can't relate to being othered in the way that the kid was (sorry, I'm shit with names). But it was not all that. For one, there were two other plots to follow. One with the monkey, and the other with the white guy. Each story had to do with being true to yourself. Anyone can connect with that! So, the story was sweet. It was  uncomfortable in places (I'm sure you can imagine where) but interesting how it all came together. 

With all that in mind, I still wasn't a huge fan. I didn't vibe with the art style (as least for the monkey) nor the jokes. I still won't rate it, though, because I think there's still a bit of that initial disconnect is playing a role. I'm not sure. It just wasn't for me, but I'm sure another would appreciate American Born Chinese.

Ari Rose

At first I wasn't going to rate this because I don't connect with the story and it didn't feel fair. But then I thought about what the story was. And sure, I'm white so I can't relate to being othered in the way that the kid was (sorry, I'm shit with names). But it was not all that. For one, there were two other plots to follow. One with the monkey, and the other with the white guy. Each story had to do with being true to yourself. Anyone can connect with that! So, the story was sweet. It was  uncomfortable in places (I'm sure you can imagine where) but interesting how it all came together. 

With all that in mind, I still wasn't a huge fan. I didn't vibe with the art style (as least for the monkey) nor the jokes. I still won't rate it, though, because I think there's still a bit of that initial disconnect is playing a role. I'm not sure. It just wasn't for me, but I'm sure another would appreciate American Born Chinese.

alexandra

this book was WAITING for me the give it a five-star review, until the ending left me thinking, "wait, what? THAT'S IT???" it's a contemporary-type ending where the end is implied but i wasn't expecting that and i wanted a cohesive conclusion!

but other than the last page, this book was... really inspirational and lovely. i've never ~actually~ read a graphic novel and i wasn't expecting it to make such a huge mark on my perspective of life. 

i think it's mostly because my personal experience in elementary school was similar to jin's, one of our main characters. he talks about moving to a new city where the majority is white and we see the teasing he gets for being chinese (or just, asian in general). this sort of thing happened when i moved to a new city, a new school, but i wasn't entirely conscious of the racist remarks. jin, however, begins to feel like he needs to BECOME white and blonde and blue-eyed. the whole experience and story follows that and it made me a bit sad at how relatable and true the story is.

i felt this novel on a personal level, and that doesn't happen very often anymore. because of that, i'll always cherish this tiny book of wonder. i think i'll be reading more graphic novels in the future, as this one was a quick, but long lasting read. (also, i think the art is lovely, so graphic novels!! yay!!!)

Michael Springer

I wrote a poem many years ago about wishing I was black so I could have an afro. How do you beat afros as a hairstyle? About the only way is by having afro puffs, which white dudes also can't have. Partially because they are white, and partially because they're dudes. 



I used to skip over that page of job applications that asks your ethnicity. I thought it was stupid that anyone would care what my race, or my sex, was before deciding whether or not to hire me. Hahahah, I was soooo naive!

Since then, I've realized to what a great extent the law attempts to make that pesky All men are created equal clause actually true. I've also read some statistics that make it pretty clear those laws aren't getting the job done. Racism, sexism, ableism, sexualpreferenceism, attractivenessism, sizism, there are a fuckton of isms that people still engage in. They aren't conscious of doing them, but they have a sense that the slightly heavier, balding guy my own age isn't going to be as much of a go-getter as me, so they hire me. If he's also black, well FUCK! The job is as good as mine. 

I believe in the idea of race even less than I used to. But, I have an awful confession to make. I now fill out that page of the application because I now understand that--although it's not technically legal--my whiteness helps me get jobs. Which begs the question, WHY ARE PEOPLE SO FUCKING STUPID?

Anyway. 



American Born Chinese is the story of an American boy who struggles with the stigma that comes from his Chinese ancestry. He's treated like a second-class citizen, bullied and made fun of. This book also tells the story of Chin-Kee, a Chinese stereotype who comes to live with his white cousin, making the whiteboy's life a living hell as he starts being ostracized by his friends and the girl he has the hots for. 



This graphic novel is a fast read, yet has a complex story, weaving three tales together that don't unite until the climax. It's my favorite combination of elements in a book: constantly funny, but funny and sad at the same time. The ending was relatively satisfying, and the intricacies of the plots make the book more complex than some novels. This book carries more literary weight than a lot of other books, despite the fact that it's a graphic novel. (I'm still prejudiced against this genre. "It's perrty good....fer a graphic novel!") 

I could use this to launch into yet another political tirade about how instances of "reverse racism" are now given a lot more attention in the press than instances of real racism. If anyone really wants that kind of tirade, though, maybe it'll happen in the comments. OOhh, maybe I can attract a troll! I'll try a little bit harder to do so: REVERSE RACISM IS A TERM MADE UP BY RACISTS WHO ARE SICK OF BEING TREATED LIKE EVERYONE ELSE. 

I have a headache. Oh, and by the way, Goodreads.com, I'm about to plunge back into another semester, so I may not be around much at all, other than when I'm on here experimenting with you guys. But, I will be thinking of you longingly, and I look forward to the time when we can again be together for more than a quick trist. 

And I'm also looking forward to those trists. 

Adieu.

Katherine Yang

Jeannette Ordas

A speedy read (under an hour) of a graphic novel. Wasn't blown away by it, but I'm sure this would be good for kids so I'm upping my rating to 3 stars.

Haylie

Sara

Cassidy

I think the older I get, the more this book confuses me

mary

3.75⭐
Aw, so cute. I loved how everything is connected.

Ken Yuen

** spoiler alert **
           I've never written an autobiography, but it felt like reading one. That kid playing with a Transformer, that was me growing up. That lonely kid who felt different, that was me. The kid who loved Monkey King and felt it brought him closer to his parent's culture, that was me.

The ending is brilliant. I love the way all the different sub stories come together in an unexpected way. For some reason I never questioned Danny's identity, but you can see the dad has black hair when Chin Kee comes over.

Man, was I wondering where he was going with that sub story. 

The names and wordplay are clever. Jing Wang, I see what you did there, Gene Luen Yang. Melanie and Amelia are pretty close to being anagrams.

A pretty great story that captures the feeling of being an immigrant or the child of immigrants. Also, Gene Luen Yang has written some other great comic books, like the Avatar the Last Airbender graphic novels. Definitely worth checking out.

Flavia Louise

4.25 stars
Nice illustrations.
Great message.

Jas Wang

i could pretty much relate because I'm a taiwanese (chinese) born australian if that makes sense?
it wasn't that hard for me to fit in since english was pretty much my native language, but i think the author did a great job expressing the asian feels.

Maura

How far will one go to fit in? Is it possible to change oneself to fit in without completely loosing your identity? That is what second-generation Chinese American Jin Wang has to figure out. In this graphic novel that is split into three parts the notion of identity and staying true to yourself is evident throughout all three sections. The first section follows the story of the Monkey King and how he came to be. The second part is about Jin Wang’s attempts to fit into his new suburban school where they make fun of him. The third is about a white boy named Danny who has to deal with his embarrassing cousin Chin-Kee’s visit. The end has a twist and leaves readers with the message of how important it is not to forget who you are and where you came from in order to please others.

Title: American Born Chinese
Author: Gene Luen Yang
Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy

3 Word Description: Asian-American, Identity, Graphic Novel

Grace O'Callaghan

*2.5 ⭐️

A graphic novel following three perspectives: Jin Wang, the only Chinese-American at his new school; the Monkey King; and Chin-Kee, the personification of negative Chinese stereotypes. We follow each of them until all of there stories intertwine.

For the most part, the art style was good. Nothing to write home about but was easy to understand and got the message across.

I’m a pretty character driven reader so if I’m not interested in the characters, it’s hard for me to care about the story. Therefore I found myself very bored throughout until the ending where it got slightly interesting.

Even then I still found the story to be incredibly dry. As there are three perspectives it’s hard to connect to any of them as nothing really happens. I feel like it was more of a gimmick to be able to bring them together at the end than for it to actually suit the narrative. 

I really appreciate what this graphic novel is trying to highlight: racism and negative stereotypes towards Chinese people. However, even if a book has a good message, it doesn’t take away the fact that I was incredibly bored whilst reading this.

All in all, I’m glad so many people connected with this story, I love the message behind it but didn’t love the execution.

Khloe Grotting

This was a really fun and quirky graphic novel. I loved the different storylines and the art was absolutely perfect for this book!

Melissa Eder

3.5 stars, this was nice, wished the wrap up at the end would've been stronger, I felt that the message got lost by the end.

American Born Chinese

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