American Born Chinese

American Born Chinese

Graphic novels. Chinese Americans -- Fiction. Identity -- Fiction. Schools -- Fiction. Cartoons and comics. Identity (Psychology) -- Fiction.

"American Born Chinese is a graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang. Released in 2006 by First Second Books, it was a finalist for the 2006 National Book Awards in the category of Young People's Literature. It won the 2007 Michael L. Printz Award[1] and the 2007 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album: New. It was the first graphic novel recognized by the National Book Foundation. It was colored by cartoonist Lark Pien, who received the 2007 Harvey Award for Best Colorist for her work on the book. The book starts out with three seemingly different tales, and then merges them all together at the climax. The first tale is the legendary folk tale of The Monkey King, which is renowned all through China and in many parts of Asia. This story is from the Chinese classic novel Journey to the West, but is not the same as the traditional one, it changed some details. This tale includes the Monkey king who is born of stone becoming something that he isn't. While doing this he masters the twelve disciplines of Kung-Fu. The second tale is the story of a second-generation child of immigrants from China named Jin Wang, who still is heavily influenced by Chinese culture. The story follows his life through the making of his best friend, to him falling in love with a girl, and many adventures in between. The third tale follows the story of an American boy named Danny, whose Chinese cousin Chin-Kee comes and visits every year. Chin-Kee is the ultimate Chinese stereotype in terms of accent, fashion sense, hairstyle, appearance, and hobbies. The high school Danny attends is called "Oliphant High School", which Yang has said he named after political cartoonist Pat Oliphant, in response to a comic he took offense to. Many of Chin-Kee's stereotypical quirks are also lifted from this cartoon. Jin Wang is an American born Chinese, who seemingly wants one thing. To fit in." -- Wikipedia

Yang, Gene Luen

First Second

2006

PN6727 .Y36 A54

2003.500.2798