American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Gene Luen Yang's early graphic novel American Born Chinese tells three stories in tandem featuring three leading characters who deal with a lot of challenges.
Jin Wang moves to a new town and has to settle in to middle school life, which means finding new friends. He dreams of being like the heroes of his youth, the Transformers. He wants to date the cute girl and fit in but has a hard time dealing with the biases of his peers. In a couple of months, another Chinese boy, Wei-Chen, comes to the school. Initially, Jin wants to avoid him because he has that "fresh off the boat" vibe that is social poison. But Wei-Chin has a Transformer toy and they become friends, helping each other navigate the difficulties of middle school life.
Danny is the main character in a sitcom called "Everyone Ruvs Chin-Kee." He is an American middle schooler whose life is turned upside down when his Chinese cousin Chin-Kee shows up for a visit (as he does every year). Chin-Kee is an amalgamation of every stereotype--he's got buck teeth, a braided ponytail, traditional Chinese clothes, speech that mistakes Ls for Rs, an excellent student, and misquotes Confucius or comes up with ridiculous metaphors for comic effect. Danny is utterly embarrassed to have Chin-Kee around, causing the typical sit-com misery.
The three stories move along in parallel, dealing with issues of personal identity and value, the ability to change yourself, and the false perception of others. This last item is ambiguous but I intend both meanings: (1) others perceive you falsely and (2) you perceive others falsely. The stories come together at the end with an amazingly well-crafted finale that's also quiet and reassuring. That's the result of being honest. The comedy in the book runs the gamut from wisely humorous (causing me to laugh out loud) to distressingly stereotypical (causing me to wince, which the author surely intended). The book is thematically brilliant.
Highly recommended.
Great review!
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