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devindevindevin's review against another edition
2.0
Went in with high hopes, but this had nothing on American Born Chinese. This felt like a quarter of a graphic novel, with all the character development scalped out and the plot thinned to meet some sort of low page count requirement. The bones were there, and the skeleton was good, but there was no meat on 'em.
libraryjen's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
A quick, entertaining read with great illustrations and an important message.
tiedyedude's review against another edition
5.0
This did not go where I thought it would have gone. a very honest, realistic story about a youn man tring to decide his path in life, struggling between happiness and practicality. Superbly written, well illustrated, an excellent read.
blairmahoney's review against another edition
4.0
This one is compulsory reading for students from my school. A guy whose parents have high expectations and pressure him to become a doctor? Check. But what he really wants to do is just play video games? Check. I really liked Yang's American Born Chinese and this one has similar flights of fantasy punctuating an otherwise realistic tale of growing up and dealing with parental expectations. I'm not so keen on the illustrations by Thien Pham, but they're serviceable enough.
aeclark12's review against another edition
5.0
An imaginative look at a coming-of-age dilemma -- career selection based upon parental or personal interests.
hyzerchan's review against another edition
3.0
Fun Indy Comic about a life tormented by video game addiction. Very applicable to the modern college goer.
_reading_with_kate_'s review against another edition
Oh my goodness this was strange. In a good way?
reader4evr's review against another edition
4.0
I just sat & read this at the library and I enjoyed it...brought back memories of playing Nintendo when I was younger.
I haven't read American Born Chinese but I heard this one was good. I wish I had read this earlier because I had a lot of boys at my other school who loved video games & graphic novels. I think they would have liked this because this shows both sides of perusing video games for a career. I wonder if this book was kind of autobiographical about the author.
I liked the theme of family in this book and how it plays apart of your life. I thought the art work was fun and I liked how some parts were in color and others in black and white.
I haven't read American Born Chinese but I heard this one was good. I wish I had read this earlier because I had a lot of boys at my other school who loved video games & graphic novels. I think they would have liked this because this shows both sides of perusing video games for a career. I wonder if this book was kind of autobiographical about the author.
I liked the theme of family in this book and how it plays apart of your life. I thought the art work was fun and I liked how some parts were in color and others in black and white.
bookph1le's review
4.0
I really liked the way this book handled the struggle between a young man trying to figure out what he wants from his life, but being waylaid by his parents' vision for him. As a parent, I understand the impulse to try to get your kids to take the "safe" path in life, so I like books like this, that give me perspective on the unintended harm parents can do when they push their kids in directions opposite the ones their kids want to go. It's a theme that very much resonates with me.
What I'd like to see less of is the casual sexism. I cringed when one of the male characters said he liked his women more "womanly". What does that even mean? And I'm also bothered by this author's tendency to use gendered terms as insults--feminizing men who don't confine to masculine stereotypes. That really bothers me, both because it's offensive to women (What's *wrong* with being feminine? Why do we live in a society that equates being "feminine" with being weak?), AND because it's offensive to men, who are supposed to fit into a very narrow definition of what constitutes manhood. So while I do appreciate what Yang has to say about the struggles of being an ethnic minority in the U.S., it really bothers me that he's throwing women under the bus at the same time. This is why intersectionality is crucial, folks.
What I'd like to see less of is the casual sexism. I cringed when one of the male characters said he liked his women more "womanly". What does that even mean? And I'm also bothered by this author's tendency to use gendered terms as insults--feminizing men who don't confine to masculine stereotypes. That really bothers me, both because it's offensive to women (What's *wrong* with being feminine? Why do we live in a society that equates being "feminine" with being weak?), AND because it's offensive to men, who are supposed to fit into a very narrow definition of what constitutes manhood. So while I do appreciate what Yang has to say about the struggles of being an ethnic minority in the U.S., it really bothers me that he's throwing women under the bus at the same time. This is why intersectionality is crucial, folks.