American Born Chinese

By Gene Luen Yang

"As an Asian America, American Born Chinese is the book I've been waiting for all my life." -Derek Kirk Kim.

"... Today, when Timmy called me a ... a chink, I realized ... deep down inside ... I kind of fell like that all the time." -Suzy Nakamura.

American Born Chinese is a graphic novel about three peculiar characters; the Monkey King, Chin-Kee, and Jin Wang. These three characters each have a different plot, a different story, and the book switches off between them. The Monkey King's story is about how he is the greatest monkey in the entire world, but instead he wishes to be a God. He only gets himself into deeper trouble on his quest to become a deity and escape what he truly is; a monkey. Chin-Kee's story is about how he comes from China to visit his cousin Danny in America. He attends school with Danny, stirring up all kinds of mischief, and teaches Danny a very important lesson about accepting himself and not trying so hard to be the person everyone around him wants him to be. Jin Wang's story is basically about him growing up in America; seeing what people think about him, changing to meet what they want of him, and how he realizes who he really is and what he's become. Then with an unexpected twist, the three plots lines collide, but to find out how that happens then you'll have to read American Born Chinese.

 ** Because this is a graphic novel, we are somewhat incapable of giving you direct quotes from the book, so in their place we will give you parts of the book from Amazon Reader. These excerpts can be found here. **

Avalible in Hardcover and Paperback

About Chin-Kee

Chin-Kee is your average, stereotypical Chinese teenager. He comes to visit his cousin Danny [or as he says, "Dah-nee"] in America ["Amellica"] for a few weeks, and doesn't hesitate to ruin Danny's social life that he worked so hard to maintain in his newest school. Chin-Kee has a strong accent, and has two rather large front teeth that sit akwardly outside of his mouth. He screws up Danny's chances of having a girlfriend and his chances of impressing his new basketball team at the practice on one of the afternoons that Chin-Kee was there. Danny later makes Chin-Kee "pay" for screwing everything up for him, but in the end it's Chin-Kee that makes Danny "pay."

"Ah. As Confucius say, razy dog make for good stew." -Chin-Kee.

The Monkey King

The plot line concerning the Monkey King is actually based on an old Chinese legend. "The Monkey King" or Xi You Ji, is originally based on the true" story of a famous monk, Xuan Zang of the Chinese Tang Dynasty (602-664). After a decade of trials in the wilderness and small towns, he arrived on foot to what is modern day India, the birthplace of Buddhism. When Xuan Zang returned to China, he brought with him and translated the ways of Buddhism, eventually contributing to the religion's rise in the chinese culture. The Monkey King is a retelling of the monks original journey mixed with old fabels, legends, and fairy tales. Even today, although the tale is no longer well known, it has influence. For example, Dragon Ball Z, a popular anime show and manga series, originally in Japanese, is based on the old tale.

"But on second thought, he decided that perhaps saying one word would make him feel better: 'DIE!'" -The Monkey King.

About Jin Wang

Jin Wang is an Asian American who grew up in a small complex where he and his other friends [also Asian Americans] watched and play with Transformers on a daily basis. Throughout the story, we see Jin Wang grow up, most of it taking place in school. From his first day to highschool, we see how he is a bit of an outcast until he meets Wei-Chin Sun, who slowly becomes his best friend. Jin Wang faces all the troubles of growing up; from trying to fit in with the crowd to girl troubles to being stereotyped by his peers.

"... Well ... I ... I want to be a transformer!" -Jin Wang.

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