2008-10-12
Entry tags:
Sunday Trade: American Born Chinese
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, color by Lark Pien
Our story opens with magical Monkey King of Flower-Fruit Mountain going to a dinner party for the Immortals. Sadly, there he learns that the Immortals are all jerks towards monkeys. So he thrashes them with his masterful kung-fu. Then we meet Jin Wang, a first generation American Chinese. He's attempting to fit in with his Anglo classmates (poorly) when he meets new immigrant Wei-Chen Sun from Taiwan. The two end up as friends as mutual outsiders. And then we meet high school student Danny. Danny seems to be a typical California teen. Plays sports, worries about the girl he likes, etc etc. That is except for having to deal with periodic visits from his cousin Chin-Kee. Chin-Kee is a walking Chinese stereotype, buck-toothed, yellow skinned, squinty-eyed, cooly clothes and "funny" accent. Exactly what he doesn't need...
ABC is a deservedly award-winning book. Yang's simple young-adult comic blends its separate tales together perfectly. An excellent addition to anyones library...
Entry tags:
Horse Feathers
Chico Marx is one grabby dude. Also, someone in the 30s apparently thought that what Marx Brothers movies needed was more solo time for Zeppo. They were wrong. Zeppo makes for a good straight man. He shouldn't be getting song solos...
