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| Book cover, courtesy of Wikipedia |
"American
Born Chinese" is three stories relating to growing up with a different
heritage, Jin Wang, a boy who moved from the primarily Chinese neighborhood
where he was born to attend a primarily Caucasian school, the Monkey King, who
desires to become more than a monkey through force, and Danny, whose
stereotypically-Chinese cousin comes to visit him for a week, in a graphic
novel format. Each struggles to overcome
racial stigmas that he feels are being applied: Jin Wang feels isolated by
teachers who can't get details of his life correct and classmates who make
racist remarks or try to keep him from associating with them on the basis of
his Chinese heritage, the monkey king feels that he is entitled to greatness
that others deny him for being a monkey, and Danny feels that his friends and
classmates look down upon him because of how closely his cousin fits Chinese
stereotypes. The three stories eventually tie-in in a strange twist that is
provocative and thoughtful.
"American
Born Chinese" is a great story for teens because of the central theme of
trying to figure out who you want to be, whether it's to be who you are or a
person who fits society's view of what an acceptable person to be is. While
this book is fairly light-hearted with racist imagery, the moral does remind me
of "Almost Perfect" by Brian Katcher, which was decidedly darker with
a less-happy ending. Both "American Born Chinese" and "Almost
Perfect" emphasize that being true to one's nature will result in a happier
life, but it can often be harder not to live a lie.
Fun
fact: the story of the monkey king, an old Chinese legend, inspired the famous
anime Dragon Ball. The similarities are especially obvious with Dragon Ball's
protagonist, Goku, a boy who knows martial arts, has an extending staff, and
transforms into a giant ape. Also, the pictures of Transformers seen early in
"American Born Chinese" are accurate depictions of actual
Transformers toys from the 80s.
This book has won the following awards:
2007 Michael L. Printz Award
The opening theme for Dragonball, an anime based on the legend of the Monkey King: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT1Dp69D7q0
Yang, Gene Luen. American Born Chinese. Parma: Guanda, 2006. Print.
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