lurkerwithout | 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...