Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - American Born Chinese

I liked the illustrations and how the three stories came together in the end. As a biracial Taiwanese person, it was really hard to read through all the racism and slurs used in this graphic novel.

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lilatov's review

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Another book I read because I'm thinking of teaching it.

This book is a lot, and to a school population that has a high chinese american percentage I'm not sure if it's what I want?

It really plays into some damaging self internalization and self hatred / stereotypes, etc. plus a random moment of anti-semitism for no real reason (the reason is to fit in). But ultimately it's a story about being true to yourself, and understanding how in trying to be someone you're not you end up hurting yourself and the people around you. It's about the power of traditions and the hold they have over you.

There are also some really good examples of the graphic novel as a medium / form.

The question I need to answer / ask myself is whether or not the positives of the story and the take aways are worth putting something that can be really hard to read infront of students. I also need to make sure that I balance positive and negative endings / storylines.

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morganperks's review

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emotional hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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rnbhargava's review

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adventurous challenging emotional funny lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I related to this book so much as someone who’s mixed race of two separate Asian ethnicities but it really does an excellent job of showing being of color in spaces that are mainly white. The ending portions are a bit hasty but I still enjoyed the absurdity of everything jumbling together.

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cgbr's review

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fast-paced

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ehmannky's review

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emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Excellent all around. Great art, great layered storytelling, and a great message perfect for readers of all ages. I loved the integration of the myth of the Monkey King as part of highlighting Jin Yang's move to accepting himself and his culture and to stop trying so hard to fit in to the white American society around him. Also making that myth maybe real all along was rad. I also thought that the book does a good job at showing the levels of racism that can severely impact students of color (in this specific case Asian students). For example, you have the white boys who consistently use racial slurs and bully Jin, but there is also the white boy who is passive in the face of the bullying and tells him that he should stop trying to date the white girl because it would be a "bad look for her." Good storytelling all around.

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kestrel's review

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funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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