American Born Chinese by Gene Yuen Yang

American Born Chinese is a coming-of-age story with great spiritual insight in graphic novel format.

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. FirstSecond, 2021 (reprint). 240 pages.

Reading Level: Teens, ages 12 and up

Recommended for: 14 and up

Who Am I? The Teen Years

Figuring out self is perhaps the focus of most adolescents’ interest. From the onset of puberty through the high school years (and even into college), teens are wrestling with who they are and who/what they’ll become—or what they can become. Do they hold to their parents’ faith? Do they even like their parents? Do their parents and friends like them? What might make them more appealing to the opposite sex? How do they get ahead? What does the future hold? Do they have to be the same old, same old person, or is it time to reinvent themselves?

American Born Chinese asks—and answers—these questions in the context of a Chinese-American boy. Jin desperately wants to fit in, to be a regular American teen. He is not interested in being shackled to the kid from Taiwan who is new to both Jin’s school and America. In contrast to Jin, Danny is the stereotypical American high school kid: blonde, athletic, good-looking. Girls like him, and he’s popular.

And then Chin-Kee shows up: Jin’s cousin from China who visits every year and makes a complete and utter fool of himself (and Jin). It’s so bad that Jin has changed schools as a result of Chin-Kee’s visit.

The final character is the Monkey King, a fixture of Chinese mythology. In Yang’s treatment, the Monkey King does not want to be the lowly Monkey King. He wants a place at the table of the heavenly gods with full rights and privileges thereto. The only problem: monkeys aren’t allowed. In a showdown with the head god, Monkey King is assigned a pilgrimage. His only hope is to make amends and faithfully follow through.

Spiritual Insight in American Born Chinese

The stories all come together in the end in a marvelous way that will have you turning back to the beginning and reading the entire book all the way through again. Yang is a master at subtlety alongside serious, poignant comments and true insight into human nature (particularly adolescence). But what really sets this coming-of-age graphic novel apart is Yang’s ability to weave in spiritual insight. Those who know their Bibles will recognize many Scriptural allusions, including much of Psalm 139. The head god is called “He who is,” there’s a clear reference to Jesus’s birth, and one character says,

I am no more worthy of love than you, yet Tze-Yo-Tzuh* loves me deeply and faithfully, providing for my daily needs. How can I not respond in kind?

p. 137; *means “He who is”

Yang’s answer to the conundrum facing teens, the “who am I?” question is: be who you were created to be. It was relevant when the book first came out, and it’s more relevant than ever in a day of gender confusion, mixed messages from all sides, and social media pressures. This is a great book to read alongside your teens and talk about. Ask questions about what your teens think, what their own struggles are, and what their friends struggle with. And remind your teens often that God has created them uniquely, and God does not make mistakes. Ever.

Of note: as of the writing of this review, Disney+ has just started a new series based on this book. I’ve not seen the new show, but from what I’ve read, it appears that Disney has tweaked the strong Christian themes to reflect more of a Buddhist philosophy (which would be more consistent with Chinese tradition, but not with Yang’s own Catholicism). Additionally, the Monkey King parts (the mythological elements) are far more separate in the book, reading as separate storylines for much of the book. From what I can tell, the book will be far superior to the TV show.

Considerations:

• Language: I noticed two instance of hell and one “friggin”
• Crude joking/images: Picture (from behind) of the monkey king “relieving himself.” Crude joking between two boys (who are clearly jerks) related to a girl.
• Sexuality: A girl is seen taking off her cardigan at the same moment that Jin wakes up to notice this girl who’s been in class for years. Jin daydreams of getting married to the girl (1 panel), the honeymoon (1 panel), and their first child (1 panel).

Overall rating: 4.5

• Worldview/moral value: 4.5
• Artistic/literary value: 4.5

Read more about our ratings here.

Also at Redeemed Reader:

• Reflection: Are Graphic Novels literature?
• Reviews: Superman Smashes the Klan and Dragon Hoops, both by Yang; New Kid by Jerry Craft offers a different take on some similar issues.
• Resource: Recommended Graphic Novels

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