American Born Chinese [graphic novel] by Gene Luen Yang

 

“Wei-Chen: But talking is more than he has ever done. Because he is a little cowardly turtle. Jin: Shut Up. I’ve talked to her before. Suzy: You know, I could be wrong – but I don’t think dropping your books in front of her and then giggling to yourself counts as conversation.” p. 94

Reader's Annotation
Meet a supernatural monkey with grandiose dreams, an awkward middle-school student, and a popular high school basketball player. What could they possibly have in common? In this funny and thoughtful graphic novel, Gene Luen Yang reveals the answer…and also why public bathroom powdered soap should not be used as deodorant on a first date.

About the Author
Gene Luen Yang began publishing comics in 1996. The next year, he received a Xeric Grant to create Gordon Yamamoto and the King of the Geeks. His American Born Chinese became the first graphic novel to be nominated for a National Book Award, as well as the first to win a Printz Award. 

Summary
This graphic novel is actually made up of three different stories. One involves Monkey King, a figure of ancient Chinese legend who was born to rule over all the monkeys of the world. He is a master of martial arts and is loved by his subjects, but he has greater aspirations: he wants to be a god. The second story involves the middle school experience of Jin Wang, a boy who moves with his family to a new neighborhood, where he is the only Chinese-American at his predominantly white new school. He is teased and picked on quite a bit by some of the other students, but does have a best friend, Wei-Chen. Jin develops a crush on a classmate named Amelia, but just can’t get up the courage to ask her out. The protagonist of the third story is Danny, a very popular boy at his high school. Unfortunately, as happens every year, his Chinese cousin Chin-Kee, who seems to specialize in inadvertently publicly embarrassing Danny, has come to visit. In previous years Danny has actually had to transfer schools because of Chin-Kee’s behavior. And this year, if anything, Chin-Kee is even more mortifying.

Critical Evaluation
Yang has put his novel together in a very interesting way, alternating back and forth between the three stories. In this way he is able to drop subtle hints about their interconnectedness, which is not revealed until a few very surprising and hilarious plot twists in the final few pages. Yang’s drawings are bold and colorful, and he is able to convey much emotion with just a few simple lines on a character’s face. While the scenes of the Monkey King story are action-packed, the scenes of Danny and Jin’s stories are not as fast-paced, and instead focus more on conversations between characters. In these latter two stories, Yang comments on subjects such as friendship, first romance, discrimination, and the self-consciousness that most tweens and teens feel at times. In the Monkey King story, Yang addresses the subjects of father-son relationships, the damage that conceit and blind ambition can cause, and appreciating what one has.  

Booktalking Ideas
• Give a character talk as Jin, when he decides that to get Amelia’s attention, he should perm his hair.
• Give an episode booktalk of Danny’s discovery of Chin-Kee dancing on the table at the library.

Curriculum Ideas
• Literature/History: Students read a few of the Monkey King fables.