American Born Chinese is a graphic novel about an American born boy who is of Chinese decent. In this novel,Asian stereotyping. His story is accompanied with two other stories witch complement each other and re-enforce the authors message. The Monkey King, is a retelling of a old Chinese story "journey to the West”, written by Wu Ch’ing-en of the Ming dynasty. it is about a monkey who declares himself the monkey king. He wants to be looked at as an equals by the gods, and in his quest he gains wisdom.  Their is also a story woven in of "Chin-Kee". He is the ultimate  Asia stereotypes on TV. Here is the first story that will link with the other two by the end of this exciting book. 

In ancient China, the Monkey King is desperate to be recognized as a diety by the other deities who refuse to see him as anything but a monkey—so he decides it’s time to prove them all wrong once and for all. Jin Wang is a modern-day kid who moves to a new town and discovers that it’s not easy being the only Chinese-American student at your school. And Danny is your typical high school basketball player whose life is perfect every year until his cousin Chin-Kee comes to visit from China, forcing Danny to change schools in an effort to escape the stigma attached to him as a result. They’re three very different lives—but they’re all wanting the exact same thing.

 The second story that will mesh with the other two in the end.

Strong storytelling aside, the characters in American Born Chinese are who will keep the average reader’s interest attuned to the book. It’s hard not to feel sympathy for each of our three protagonists, even though they’re all coming from very different places. The Monkey King’s early and sadly rude dismissal by the other deities stings in its rude (if truthful) nature, and you want him to succeed and show the other deities his own worthiness as a direct result. Yang has a fun time retelling the Chinese fable of the Monkey King here, keeping a light level of humor attached to his story as he explains the different disciplines that the Monkey King learns, as well as the Monkey King’s sharp tongue and jokes that crop up throughout his narrative. Where the Monkey King is self-assured and looking for revenge, though, Jin resonates with readers for different reasons as he desperately tries to get validation from a peer group that’s uninterested in his presence. Jin’s life changing after he leaves San Francisco is hard to not sympathize with. It’s a very typical story of a kid being bullied by the others at his school for being different, but it’s told with real heart and honesty that gives it a nice emotional punch. In particular, Jin’s relationship with his friend Wei-Chen stands out for its realism and how much it says about Jin as a person. Yang isn’t afraid to show Jin’s issues with his own heritage and identity by having him take them out on Wei-Chen, and by not keeping Jin a perfect or ideal character makes him all the more interesting. 

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And the third plot of the story that brings humor as well as sence to the overall story.

It’s hard to ignore what for some may be the most controversial part of American Born Chinese, namely the story of Danny and his cousin Chin-Kee. Chin-Kee is portrayed as the ultimate negative stereotype of a Chinese person, from traditional ancient Chinese clothing and an unrealistic yellow coloring (which no other Asian characters in the book have), to horrible buck teeth and an accent that substitutes all R sounds with an L. Ignoring that Yang himself is Chinese-American, it’s certainly understandable why he’s doing this; Chin-Kee is supposed to be Danny’s nightmare, everything that he hates about Chinese heritage in general. It’s certainly meant to provoke, to disturb, and to annoy the reader. Does Yang succeed? Absolutely. It’s also an outward manifestation of all of the racism that some of the characters in American Born Chinese display, both spoken and otherwise. It makes Danny a more interesting character, because you simultaneously have pity for him being saddled with Chin-Kee, even as Danny’s embarrassment and disdain for his cousin make him a little tarnished and not entirely able to be sympathetic for his own specific faults coming to life in such a way. It’s a fine

balance that Yang strikes, and the character does everything that Yang intends it to accomplish.

All of these plots mesh together in the end and form one great and humorous plot.

 
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