American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Teen Graphic Novels- Main Level- A
“Class, I’d like us all to give a warm welcome to your new classmate Jing Jang!”
-“Jin Wang.”
“He and his family recently moved to our neighborhood all the way from China!”
-“San Francisco.”
Yang’s beautifully colored graphic novel weaves three stories together into one statement about life as a “human transformer.” He begins in the forest with a discontented monkey learning invulnerability through kung-fu—a retelling of the Chinese folk tale “The Monkey King.” Then it shifts over to young Jin Wang being introduced to his new classmates. Jin doesn’t eat dogs, and he can speak English. So why do the other guys treat him like an “FOB” (fresh off the boat)? Yang’s third story is the saga of Danny, a popular high school student who is humiliated on a yearly basis when his cousin, an embodiment of stereotypes, comes to visit from China.
American Born Chinese is the winner of the 2007 Michael L. Printz Award for excellent young adult literature, but adults will enjoy the drawings and stories as well. If you’ve never read a graphic novel before, this is a great one to start with.
To see other Printz Award winners, check out
http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/booklistsawards/printzaward/previouswinners/winners.htm