Bibliography
Yang, Gene Luen. 2008. American Born Chinese. New York, NY: Square Fish. ISBN: 9780312384487
Plot Summary
Jin Wang is the only Chinese-American student at his school and longs to “American” like the other students. Soon a boy from Taiwan joins his school and Jin Wang hesitantly becomes his friend. Meanwhile the King Monkey wants to be an immortal god in heaven and somehow he is entangled with Danny, an all-American boy whose obnoxious Chinese Cousin ruins his reputation at school.
Critical Analysis
After the King Monkey establishes his kingdom and masters the twelve major disciplines of Kung-Fu he wants to be known as the Great Sage Equal of Heaven, and is convinced that he is no longer a monkey. Tze-Yo-Tzuh creator of all existence tells him it was he who made him but the monkey still refuses to believe so he is under a mountain of rock for five hundred years to prevent him from exercising Kung-Fu.
Jin Wang is an American born student of Chinese parents whose parents move to an all-American town where Jin Wang is the only American-Chinese student. From the beginning he is made fun of and bullied because of the way he looks or what he eats and so he has no friends until another Asian boy named Wei-Chen Sun arrives from Taiwan. As much as Jin Wang tries to not avoid Wei-Chen Sun because he is FOB (Fresh of the Boat) they end up becoming best friends.
Then there’s Danny an all-American boy who is great at basketball and is popular with the girls until his obnoxious Chinese cousin Chin-Kee comes to spend some time with Danny at this school. While Chin- Kee is brilliant at every subject he is a comical Chinese stereotype with buck teeth, crude manners, a braided pony tail, a thick accent, “Harro Amellica!”and Danny detests him for being so Chinese.
Readers will be captured with the colorful and expression filled graphics of each page, and the action filled pages with Kung-Fu fights and likewise, be entertained with innocent teenage mishaps as Jing Wang tries to put his arm around the girl he likes only to realize his armpits smell.
Readers will be fascinated with how these three stories told separately yet interwoven throughout the entire novel come in the end to create conclusion about finding and accepting ourselves for who we are and where we come from as we try to fit in.
Review Excerpt(s)
Publishers Weekly, Starred Review- “Startlingly provocative…nuanced and evenhanded…a fast-moving, emotionally involving plot.”
Booklist- “With vibrant colors and visual panache, indie writer-illustrator Yang (Rosary Comic Book) focuses on three characters in tales that touch on facets of Chinese American life. Jin is a boy faced with the casual racism of fellow students and the pressure of his crush on a Caucasian girl; the Monkey King, a character from Chinese folklore, has attained great power but feels he is being held back because of what the gods perceive as his lowly status; and Danny, a popular high-school student, suffers through an annual visit from his cousin Chin-Kee, a walking, talking compendium of exaggerated Chinese stereotypes.”
Library Media Connection- “In this graphic novel, three humorous and seemingly unrelated stories keep the reader's attention until they come together at the end.”
Connections
*Identity
*Cartoons & Comics
*Winner of the Michael L. Printz Award
*National Book Award Finalist
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