American Born Chinese

Author: Gene Luen Yang

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This is a cross between a graphical novel and a manga style comic with simple, firm illustrations and a complex layered story. It is a relatively quick read but is certainly not a light weight with over 230 pages and a larger format. Jin Wang is a young teenager whose parents are Chinese immigrants. He quickly discovers that Asian looking boys face a number of challenges at school. An older lady tells him “It is easy to become anything you wish…so long as you’re willing to forfeit your soul”. He betrays his heritage and decides to simply try to blend in, with unfortunate results.

This could have been a somewhat didactic tale with little chance of engaging its readers… instead it is told in a fascinating and initially bewildering way. We end up with three alternating threads of a story. First there is the story from Chinese mythology about the Monkey King and his aspirations to be accepted as a god like other gods. Then we see various events in the life of Jin Wang as a younger teen… and this is interspersed with stories from his life as an older, now very Caucasian teenager. Bizarrely he is visited for one month in each year by a “cousin from China” who is an outrageous caricature with a pigtail, round glasses, huge round face, amorous intent and boundless cleverness.

It is not clear till the end of the story what is really going on… and I shan’t be giving away any secrets here! The tale is poignant and thought provoking. It contains a real challenge to respect one's own heritage and maintain personal integrity.

 I was also rather astonished to find a whole slab of Psalm 139 quoted in the mouth of one of the Chinese gods, and a visit by a Chinese sage to the baby Jesus. At the very least I would have to put this down to 21st Century intertextuality, but others may see a deeper meaning.

Despite the disarming pictures of monkeys, this is a complex story that requires thought and interpretation… perhaps best for Year Eight and up.


Andrew Lack