American Born Chinese

American Born Chinese. Gene Luen Yang. New York: First Second Books, 2006. 234 pages. $17.95 (Paperback). ISBN 978-1-59643-152-2. Grades 8-12.

My Thoughts...

My initial set of thoughts about American Born Chinese included, “what?!,” “isn’t this offensive,” and “did that really just happen?” I was excited about this book from the beginning because it came highly recommended and praised and because I have had few encounters with graphic novels. I loved the way that the story read, and I loved that there were three seemingly separate stories that did end up connecting. Not to mention that the illustrations were fantastic!  I was astonished, however, by the garish accent and teasing of the cousin Chin-Kee character. I wondered if Asian American teens would find this offensive or funny. I just kind of thought the yellow skin, incredibly slanted eyes, and accent were incredibly stereotypically and tacky. Granted, I did laugh, but I felt like I shouldn’t have been. I also thought it was amusing that Chin-Kee sang She Bangs like William Hung did on American Idol. I was also surprised to see such stereotypes as cat in Chin-Kee’s lunch and the whole “me Chinese, me play joke, me go pee pee in his Coke.” I was so engrossed in the stories themselves and the seemingly racists aspects to notice the important theme in the book until after I started reading the Zia chapter.

One of the important themes (that was quite obvious) was being true to yourself, no matter what other people think. This is apparent with the Monkey King and Jin Wang/Danny. I liked that this ‘moral’ existed at the end of this funny and engaging book. This book, however, places the human characters in modern times where there is still massive amounts of racism, which I was sad to see, especially after reading about all the horrendous treatment Asians experienced when they first arrived in America and for years after. The Zia article also emphasized that there is little taught or acknowledged about Asian American history in textbooks or historical accounts. I think that a lot of Asian Americans feel (like her father did) marginalized and underappreciated. Jin Wang was ashamed of being different and longed to transform in to something else…becoming Danny. I think if he knew the struggles his ancestors went through he would either feel horrible for complaining so much. That being said he could also be very angry that the racism still exists but then champion his culture and tell everyone how crucial Chinese were in the development of this country despite to racism and unfairness they faced. Speaking of this chapter, I learned more about the history of Asians in the United States in its 20 or so pages than I had in my entire life. This is the kind of information that should be taught in schools and I don’t know why it isn’t. It is unfortunate, however, that most of the facts are appalling. Past presidents and social leaders should be embarrassed and ashamed of the way Asians were treated and used, but at the same time we cannot pretend these things didn’t happen.  I was glad to read about the progress made after the 60s for Asian American studies, career advancement, etc, but at the same time I couldn’t help thinking there are still stereotypes and that people still treat the vast subsets of Asian Americans differently.

Back to the book…I think the fable aspect of strength and trying to change your stars or break out of life and body that you didn’t get to choose is relatable to young adults of any gender or social status. I think that Asian Americans, however, will be able to relate to the way that the characters are treated and the history behind the legend of the Monkey King. I think that this novel does a great job of discussing the ‘American Dream’ and how it can be a nightmare and/or a let down depending on where you stand. American Born Chinese was a great read, funny and thought provoking, and I would love to hear what teens had to say about it!