American Born Chinese

by Gene Luen Yang

This is a charming, great book. Yang starts the book by telling three very different stories, although by the end of the book, he weaves them together in an unexpected, and masterful, way.

The first story is about the Monkey King, who wants more than anything to be recognized by the gods as an equal. To that end, he masters many different forms of kung fu, and ends up challenging Tze-Yo-Tzuh, the god of all things.

The second story is about Jin, the American born Chinese of the title. We follow Jin from early childhood through junior high, as he deals with being the only Chinese boy at his school, at least until Wei Chen arrives from Taiwan. Jin develops feelings for a girl in his class, but her friends don't want her dating a Chinese boy.

The third story is about a white boy named Danny, who is overly concerned with appearances, and who is visited every year by his Chinese cousin, Chin-Kee. Chin-Kee is as yellow as the cover, buck-toothed, pony-tailed, and embodies every other racial stereotype you can think of. He speaks in broken English (r's and l's are a problem), and has no understanding of social mores. This section of the book is designed like a TV sitcom, complete with applause and a laugh track.

As these three stories meld, the book takes on themes of identity, friendship, and self-esteem. Yang works with a light hand, and doesn't beat the reader over the head with any of this. The art in the book is very nice. It's quite simple and uncomplicated, and Yang, using a minimum of lines, achieves great effectiveness in conveying his characters' thoughts and emotions. I'm impressed by the quality of this book.