Book Review AMERICAN BORN CHINESE

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Yang, Gene Luen. 2006. AMERICAN BORN CHINESE. Color by Lark Pien. New York: First Second. ISBN: 1596431520

2. PLOT SUMMARY
American Born Chinese tells three seemingly separate stories. The first story introduces Jin Wang, who moves to a new neighborhood with his family. He is the only Chinese-American student at his new school and as a consequence doesn’t have many friends—not until the new Korean student transfers to his school. The second story tells us the story of the powerful Monkey King, subject of one of the oldest and greatest Chinese fables. The third story brings us Chin-Kee, who is the epitome of the ultimate negative Chinese stereotype. Chin-Kee has an accent, eats cats, and always knows the answers to teachers’ questions. When Chin-Kee first arrives, he greats Danny’s friend by saying, “Such pletty Amellican girl wiff bountiful Amellican bosom! Must bind feet and bear Chin-Kee’s children!” And for some unknown reason, Chin-Kee always makes a yearly visit to his American cousin—Danny.

All three characters—Jin Wang, Monkey King, and Danny—suffer humiliation from other people’s prejudices and as a consequence want to change their identify. Jin Wang wants to look more like Greg, an all-American boy, so he can win the heart of Amelia, the all-American girl. The Monkey King does not want to be a monkey. He wants to be a god who smells nice and wears shoes. Danny dreads Chin-Kee’s visits and constantly needs to be changing schools because of embarrassment he suffers due to his Chinese cousin’s antics.

In the end, these three stories surprisingly come together helping Jin Wang accept his identity as a Chinese-American and moving beyond his anger.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
In American Born Chinese, Yang tackles the deep issues of race, prejudices, identity, and shame. Within the two modern stories, is the fable of the Monkey King. Here, we learn how the Monkey King desires/declares himself to be a "Great Sage, Equal of Heaven.” Tze-Yo-Tzuh, the creator of all existence, tells Monkey King that he was created to be a monkey, and a monkey he will remain. After refusing to accept this reality, Tze-Yo-Tzuh buries the Monkey King under a mountain of rocks. Here, he remains for five hundred years.

The second story begins with Jin Wang as a little boy and resumes later when he is in the 7th grade. Jin Wang develops a crush on the all-American girl. Before asking Amelia on a date, Jin Wang decides to change his hair to appear more American. After a fight with his friends, Jin Wang dreams of the herbalist's wife, and wakes up with his head hurting, thus revealing himself to be Danny of the third tale.

In the third story, Danny suffers humiliation from his Chinese cousin who comes to visit him every year. Danny feels he must change schools after his cousin’s visit because he is deeply ashamed of his cousin.

In the end, we realize why Danny was so embarrassed and bothered by his Chinese cousin. Danny was really Jin Wang. Jin Wang, like the Monkey King, hated his identity and wanted to change. However, as Tze-Yo-Tzuh explains, who we are born as is who we are meant to be: “I do not make mistakes little monkey. A monkey I intended you to be. A monkey you are.” The overall theme is then that we should not try to change because we would only be fooling ourselves. This theme despite all the fantasy elements transcends time. Readers, even those who are not minorities, will be able to relate to the main characters who feel different and don’t belong with the "in-crowd."

American Born Chinese is a graphic novel with fantastic the illustrations and coloring. The artwork is crisp, clear, and effective in developing the story lines.


4. AWARDS WORD AND REVIEW EXCERPTS
Michael L. Printz Award
Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year

BOOKLIST: “The stories have a simple, engaging sweep to them, but their weighty subjects--shame, racism, and friendship--receive thoughtful, powerful examination.”
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “Graphic novels that focus on nonwhite characters are exceedingly rare in American comics. Enter American Born Chinese, a well-crafted work that aptly explores issues of self-image, cultural identity, transformation, and self-acceptance.”

5. CONNECTIONS
*Teachers can use American Born Chinese to discuss race and prejudices with middle school students. Students can discuss what it’s like growing up being a minority, and Anglo American can discuss any prejudices they know of/feel themselves towards other ethnic groups.

This discussion can lead to an understanding of students coming from other ethnicities and lead to acceptance/tolerance.

Image Credit: librarything.com