Book Review: American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

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.

The Monkey King wants to go to a party in heaven with other gods and legendary beings. He uses kung fu power to get there, only to be kicked out because he's not wearing shoes like the other guests. And he smells like a monkey. The Monkey King uses more kung fu powers to beat up all the guests and returns to his mountain kingdom where he commands his subjects to wear shoes and he starts thinking of how to deal with the smell issue. He learns more kung fu disciplines and thinks of himself as "The Great Sage," and will use brute force to show how enlightened he is. Tze-Yo-Tzuh, the Creator of all, sends the Monkey King on a mission to achieve true enlightenment.

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.

Even though the book is focused on the Chinese-American experience, it is relatable for everyone. One can easily imagine similar books based on people who are Japanese or Irish or Jewish or Christian or Muslim or on and on. That's because the desire both to be accepted and to be true to oneself often generates conflicts that are very difficult to resolve. Each and every one of us faces those challenges and more or less succeeds in resolving them (hopefully).

Highly recommended.