American Born Chinese

by Gene Luen Yang, Gene Luen Yang (Illustrator)

Overview

Three very different characters, one simple goal: to fit in.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312384487
Publisher:	Square Fish
Publication date:	12/23/2008
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.80(d)
Lexile:	GN530L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Gene Luen Yang writes, and sometimes draws, comic books and graphic novels. He was named a National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by the Library of Congress in 2016, and advocates for the importance of reading, especially reading diversely. His graphic novel American Born Chinese, a National Book Award finalist and Printz Award winner, has been adapted into an original series on Disney+. His two-volume graphic novel Boxers & Saints won the LA Times Book Prize and was a National Book Award Finalist. His nonfiction graphic novel, Dragon Hoops, received an Eisner award and a Printz honor. His other comics work includes Secret Coders (with Mike Holmes), The Shadow Hero (with Sonny Liew), and Superman Smashes the Klan and the Avatar: The Last Airbender series (both with Gurihiru). In 2016, he was named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow.

Read an Excerpt

American Born Chinese

---

By Gene Luen Yang

Roaring Brook Press

Copyright © 2006 Gene Yang
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-59643-152-2

---

CHAPTER 1

ONE BRIGHT ANS STARRY NIGHT, THE GODS, THE GODDESSES, THE DEMONS AND THE SPIRITS GATHERED IN HEAVEN FOR A DINNER PARTY.

YOUR PEACHES ARE LOOKING ESPECIALLY PLUMP TODAY, MY DEAR!

TEE HEE! OH STOP IT, LAO-TZU!

I DON'T MEAN TO BOAST, BUT THAT THUNDERSTORM I PUT TOGETHER LAST NIGHT IMPRESSED EVEN MYSELF!

THEIR MUSIC AND THE SCENT OF THEIR WINE DRIFTED DOWN ...

... DOWN ...

... DOWN ...

... TO FLOWER-FRUIT MOUNTAIN ...

... WHERE FLOWERS BLOOMED ROUND ...

... AND FRUITS HUNG HEAVY NECTAR ...

... AND MONKEYS PROLICKED UNDER THE WATCHFUL EYE OF THE MAGICAL MONKEY KING.

NOW THE MONKEY KING WAS A DEITY IN HIS OWN RIGHT.

LEGEND HAD IT THAT LONG AGO, LONG BEFORE ALMOST ANY MONKEY COULD REMEMBER, THE MONKEY KING WAS BORN OF A ROCK.

WHEN HIS EYES FIRST OPENDED, THEY FLAGHED RAYS OF LIGHT DEEP INTO THE SKY.

ALL OF HEAVEN TOOK NOTICE.

WHAT THE-?

SOON AFTER, HE PURGED FLOWER-FRUIT MOUNTAIN OF THE TIGER-SPIRIT THAT HAD HAUNTED IT FOR CENTURIES.

HE ESTABLISHED HIS KINGDOM AND MONKEYS FROM THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE WORLD FLOCKED TO HIM.

THE MONKEY KING RULED WITH A FIRM BUT GENTLE HAND.

PLAY NICE.

HE SPEND HIS DAYS STUDYING THE ARTS OF KUNG-FU. JE QUICKLY MASTERED THOUSANDS OF MINOR DISCIPLINES AS WELL AS THE FOUR MAJOR HEAVENLY DISCIPLINES, PREREQUISITES TO IMMORTALITY.

DISCIPLINE ONE: FIRST-LIKE-LIGHTNING

DISCIPLINE TWO: THUNDEROUS FOOT

DISCIPLINE THREE: HEAVENLY SENSES

A DINNER PARTY!

THE MONKEY KING LIKED DINNER PARTIES VERY MUCH.

MY DEAR SUBJECTS, I MUST TAKE LEAVE OF YOU TONIGHT FOR THERE IS A VERY IMPORTANT PARTY I MUST ATTEND.

DISCIPLINE FOUR: COULD-AS-STEED

THE MONKEY KING WAITED IN LINE FOR WHAT SEEMED LIKE AN ETERNITY.

HE FIDGETED THIS WAY AND THAT (MONKEYS JUST AREN'T VERY GOOD AT WAITING) BUT FORCED HIMSELF TO STAY IN LINE.

ALL THE WHILE HE THOUGHT ABOUT HOW MUCH HE LIKED DINNER PARTIES.

BY THE TIME THE MONKEY KING ARRIVED AT THE FRONT GATE. HE WAS BESIDE HIMSELF WITH ANTICIPATION.

ANNOUNCING THE ARRIVAL OF AO-JUN. THE DRAGON KING OF THE WESTERN SEA!

"AHEM" PARDON ME SIR, BUT MIGHT YOU STEP THIS WAY FOR A MOMENT?

OH, I'M SORRY.

YOU MAY ANNOUNCE THAT I AM THE MONKEY KING OF FLOWER-FRUIT MOUNTAIN!

YES, YES, I APOLOGIZE PROFUSELY SIR, BUT I CANNOT LEY YOU IN.

YOU HAVEN'T ANY SHOES.

BUT THERE MUST BE SOME MISTAKE! I AM THE SOVEREIGN RULER OF FLOWER-FRUIT MOUNTAIN, WHERE THE FLOWERS BLOOM YEAR ROUND AND THE FRUITS HANG HEAVY WITH NECTAR!

THOUSANDS OF SUBJECTS PLEDGE LOYALTY TO ME.

I, TOO. AM A DEITY! I AM A COMMITTED DISCIPLINE OF THE ARTS OF KUNG-FU AND I HAVE MASTERED THE FOUR MAJOR HEAVENLY DISCIPLINES, PREREQUISITES TO IMMORTALITY!

(Continues...)

---

Excerpted from American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. Copyright © 2006 Gene Yang. Excerpted by permission of Roaring Brook Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---

Table of Contents

Contents

Copyright,
Dedication,
Also By Gene Yang,
Begin Reading,

Editorial Reviews

06/01/2014
Jin Wang is the only Asian American boy in his new school; Danny is a young man deeply embarrassed by his visiting Chinese cousin, portrayed deliberately by the author as an ethnic cliché; and the Monkey King, a figure from Chinese lore, is desperate to be treated like a god. This humorous, insightful story relates how three characters overcome hurdles to find satisfaction within themselves. A wonderful take on the coming-of-age genre and the challenges of assimilation. (LJ 3/15/07)

Library Journal

As alienated kids go, Jin Wang is fairly run-of-the-mill: he eats lunch by himself in a corner of the schoolyard, gets picked on by bullies and jocks and develops a sweat-inducing crush on a pretty classmate. And, oh, yes, his parents are from Taiwan. This much-anticipated, affecting story about growing up different is more than just the story of a Chinese-American childhood; it's a fable for every kid born into a body and a life they wished they could escape. The fable is filtered through some very specific cultural icons: the much-beloved Monkey King, a figure familiar to Chinese kids the world over, and a buck-toothed amalgamation of racist stereotypes named Chin-Kee. Jin's hopes and humiliations might be mirrored in Chin-Kee's destructive glee or the Monkey King's struggle to come to terms with himself, but each character's expressions and actions are always perfectly familiar. True to its origin as a Web comic, this story's clear, concise lines and expert coloring are deceptively simple yet expressive. Even when Yang slips in an occasional Chinese ideogram or myth, the sentiments he's depicting need no translation. Yang accomplishes the remarkable feat of practicing what he preaches with this book: accept who you are and you'll already have reached out to others. (Sept.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Gr 7 Up-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. In a series of three linked tales, the central characters are introduced: Jin Wang, a teen who meets with ridicule and social isolation when his family moves from San Francisco s Chinatown to an exclusively white suburb; Danny, a popular blond, blue-eyed high school jock whose social status is jeopardized when his goofy, embarrassing Chinese cousin, Chin-Kee, enrolls at his high school; and the Monkey King who, unsatisfied with his current sovereign, desperately longs to be elevated to the status of a god. Their stories converge into a satisfying coming-of-age novel that aptly blends traditional Chinese fables and legends with bathroom humor, action figures, and playground politics. Yang s crisp line drawings, linear panel arrangement, and muted colors provide a strong visual complement to the textual narrative. Like Toni Morrison s The Bluest Eye and Laurence Yep s Dragonwings, this novel explores the impact of the American dream on those outside the dominant culture in a finely wrought story that is an effective combination of humor and drama.-Philip Charles Crawford, Essex High School, Essex Junction, VT Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

The art blends the clean lines of anime with a bold American palette. Yang is equally adept at depicting a high school cafeteria and the Monkey King's fantastical realm.”

—New York Times

“. . . brilliantly written and designed, sophisticated and wise.” — The Miami Herald

“. . . one of the most powerful and entertaining works of literature to be published this year . . .” — San Francisco Chronicle

“Yang's crisp line drawings, linear panel arrangement, and muted colors provide a strong visual complement to the textual narrative. Like Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye and Laurence Yep's Dragonwings, this novel explores the impact of the American dream on those outside the dominant culture in a finely wrought story that is an effective combination of humor and drama.” —School Library Journal

“The stories have a simple, engaging sweep to them, but their weighty subjects—shame, racism, and friendship—receive thoughtful, powerful examination.” —Booklist

“This much-anticipated, affecting store about growing up different is more than just the story of a Chinese-American childhood: it's a fable for every kid born into a body and a life they wished they could escape.” —Publisher's Weekly

“Compositions are tidy and the palette is softly muted, so that even the strongest colors in the action scenes never reach the intensity of a visual assault. Kids fighting an uphill battle to convince parents and teachers of the literary merit of graphic novels will do well to share this title.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

“The artwork is clean and distinctive, with varying panel styles and inking that is visually appealing. The Cousin Chin-Kee story line is extremely hyperbolic and at times difficult to read, as it embraces the most extreme negative Chinese stereotypes, but it displays some of the difficulties in perception faced by young Chinese Americans. This graphic novel could be especially cathartic for teens and adults of Asian descent, but people of any ethnicity would find themselves reflected in the universal themes of self-acceptance, peer pressure, and racial tensions.” —VOYA

“A National Book Award finalist and ALA's Printz Award winner, this fable stars the mythological Monkey King, realistic youngster Jin Wang of Taiwanese parentage, and TV sitcom teen Danny… Finally, the three stories suddenly merge, to center on Jin coming to terms with his minority experience and moving beyond his own fear and hostility. Coalescence comes almost too quickly, but the trivision approach and treatment are unique and moving.” —Library Journal

From the Publisher