The Book Shelf: American Born Chinese

American Born Chinese

Gene Luen Yang

240 Pages

Young Adult

Summary

American Born Chinese is a graphic novel that follows the tales of three different individuals. The main story is that of Jin, a Chinese boy that just wants to fit in. Born in the US, Jin speaks perfect English and is more than familiar with American customs. However, he sees himself as being different because of the prejudices of the other school kids. This story is accompanied by the tales of the Monkey King and Danny, neither of whom are comfortable with the way they are. Danny is plagued by his Chinese cousin who is the epitome of every Chinese stereotype. Danny wants nothing more that to be rid of his shame but no matter how hard he tries he can never seem to escape his predicament. The monkey King was not content with being so small and so grew to the size of a man. Each of the last two stories' resolutions were meant as a lesson for Jin and how his heritage is nothing to be ashamed of.

The Original Purpose

This blog actually originated as a class assignment. The first "younger reading" class I took had each student create a different note card for every book they read. The note card was to have all of the information on the book as well as a brief summary and our reaction to what we read. With my children's literature class being the second class that required a similar assignment, I decided that a blog was more practical than trying to find some place to store several hundred 3x5 notecards. Thus the birth of "The Book Shelf." I hope you enjoy my insights.