American Born Chinese is a graphic novel written by Chinese-American cartoonist Gene Luen Yang in 2006. The novel focuses on an immigrant teenage boy named Jin Wang, who goes to a school in the United States where his classmates and teachers are all ignorant of his Chinese background.

In addition to Jin Wang, two, possibly three other main characters are included in the novel and towards the end of the novel are brought together for a specific purpose. These characters are the Monkey King, who struggles with his identity as a monkey and wants to be human, Danny, an American sitcom character whose life is ruined when his cousin, Chin-Kee, a sitcom character who is a racial stereotype of Asians, comes to visit him and tags along at school.

Gene Luen Yang’s humorous approach, artistic talent, and clever storytelling make the book very entertaining. The novel also comes a few important themes. A few underlying messages can be found in the novel, such as identity and transformation, stereotypes, and coming of age. Both Jin and the Monkey King experience changes in themselves – Jin becomes fed up with being Chinese American and starts to go by Danny, the Monkey King, after being kicked out of a dinner party in heaven, studies the many principles of kung fu in order to transform himself into a more human-like being.

In conclusion, this graphic novel is one worth checking out. With three seemingly unrelated stories about identity based around Chinese legends and stereotypes, Gene Luen Yang’s tale is bound to entertain anyone.

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.