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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
Graphic novels usually don't quite do it for me, but this was brilliant. The words and images are all very well-thought out, and I think it is probably better in this format than if it was traditional prose. I can't wait to read Saints.
These books (BOXERS and its companion book SAINTS) are just amazing feats of literature. I can't imagine how much work and research went into creating these books, sharing a period of history that teens probably don't know much about. While I enjoyed BOXERS more, the more I think about it the more I feel that you really do need both books to get the complete story.
While resources for further research are included, my one complaint is that an author's note about the Boxer Rebellion would have added SO MUCH. I think this is a time period and an event that people are not familiar with (I am only vaguely familiar) and a little info to debrief the reader would have elevated this set.
While resources for further research are included, my one complaint is that an author's note about the Boxer Rebellion would have added SO MUCH. I think this is a time period and an event that people are not familiar with (I am only vaguely familiar) and a little info to debrief the reader would have elevated this set.
Graphic novel telling the story of the Boxer Rebellion in China from the perspective of Little Bao, a Chinese boy who becomes a leader. The boxer rebellion happened at the turn of the 20th century, from 1898-1901 or so. As westerners came into China and Christian missionaries spread their message, ethnic Chinese communities began to fight back.
The story gives all the necessary background needed to understand the war and does a good job of portraying the Chinese view. There is also a strong cultural component. I loved how the Chinese gods were woven into the story as well as several Chinese myths.
Definitely an excellent historical read. Warning: depicts war, deaths, atrocities.
The story gives all the necessary background needed to understand the war and does a good job of portraying the Chinese view. There is also a strong cultural component. I loved how the Chinese gods were woven into the story as well as several Chinese myths.
Definitely an excellent historical read. Warning: depicts war, deaths, atrocities.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Joint Review for Boxers and Saints
These were intriguing historical fiction graphic novels that portrayed the Boxer Rebellion. I feel like I learned a lot reading both Boxers and Saints; and, after reading, I researched more about the events which revealed how many details Yang was able to incorporate throughout both novels. I love that historical fiction like this is so accessible, especially to younger readers, and leads to more interest in actual events. Yang did a great job depicting the Chinese culture and also the Christian influence at the time. The tone was quite somber which fits with what happened. Both novels were educational and I look forward to reading more of Yang’s work.
These were intriguing historical fiction graphic novels that portrayed the Boxer Rebellion. I feel like I learned a lot reading both Boxers and Saints; and, after reading, I researched more about the events which revealed how many details Yang was able to incorporate throughout both novels. I love that historical fiction like this is so accessible, especially to younger readers, and leads to more interest in actual events. Yang did a great job depicting the Chinese culture and also the Christian influence at the time. The tone was quite somber which fits with what happened. Both novels were educational and I look forward to reading more of Yang’s work.
Inappropriate for a variety of reasons
Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2020
Book Review
2 stars
Boxers
Gene Luen Yang
************************
I'm quite confused as to what this book is. It works very well for my sons, because they love the illustrations. On the other hand it is a little bit too advanced for a seven-year-old to understand.
As an Orthodox Jew, it's also probably a very inappropriate topic because it deals with cultures that have multiple gods / gods in human form.
Not appropriate.
I am also not too keen to explain to my sons what is "a flag made out of pubic hair," or what is menstrual blood. (Why are these in a book for kids anyway?)
It also has 3 very distinctly Chinese characteristics.
1. A man spends his life living out the conflicts of dead men. (Confucius the Confucian and Han Fei the Legalist have been dead for over 2000 years each, and the conflict between these ideologies has still not resolved itself in favor of one or the other.)
-The author of this book is a Chinese man from Taiwan, and he insists on using the quirky Wade-Giles romanization of the Chinese language. (You know, that system that is used nowhere in the world except there?)
Beijing is still "Peking" here.
-The era in which the current sometimes-government on Taiwan (the Guomindang/ KMT) has its origins right at the end of the Qing Dynasty. And predictably, this author chooses that insignificant fraction of time over the course of the very long Chinese history to study.
2. God and the emperor are the same person. And this author takes the trouble to bring back Qin Shi Huang as a deity. (Of course I know that people from the end of the Qing Dynasty all the way up through 1976 were ready for the concept of a god-king. But, that time has been finished long ago.)
3. Chinese people place themselves in a semi-divine status, where every Good First Cause is because of the Glorious Chinese People and Every Single Bad Thing is because of Foreign Devils.
And this can serve the purpose of keeping people whipped into a frenzy against some external enemy (This is, in fact, the strategy of the Communist Party.)
It can also make The Believer avoid asking any didactic questions about history.
There is also the issue of the ever-so-indistinct Chinese line between what is a man and what is God. (Let's remember that the emperor was thought to be the Son Of Heaven. And it doesn't matter which one of the 147 you choose. They all thought that they were God, and they wanted people to think the same.)
I'm just not sure what lessons I want my kids to draw from this, if any.
*Christianity is becoming very popular today in China, but those people that this author portrays - - likely somewhat tendentiously - - are not the same thing as the ones from a century ago. Nor is the mechanism of Chinese conversions the same then as now.
*The reason for the colonization and subjugation of the Celestial Kingdom had its origins at least a hundred years before the Boxer Rebellion. (That would be Lord McCartney's 1793 visit to the Qing emperor, after which he was told that his wares were "toys for children." Also, the emperor Qianlong asserted that McCartney was a subject of his, because he was the sovereign of all under heaven.)
If you didn't know that going into this book, you would not find it out.
The Christians may have been along for the ride with many other sovereign powers that were attacking a weak / corrupt/ besieged Dynasty. But, they were certainly not the causative factor--any more than one single snowflake is the cause of an avalanche.
And they may not even have been an impelling factor.
*The Qing dynasty was set up by Manchurians. And in that way, the interaction of the foreign powers was with them, and not with the majority Han Chinese.
It seems that the Han were props in somebody else's game during this period in history.
Verdict: Not recommended.
1. Yang has written other books, and his illustrative style is what the kids seem to like.
2. I'm trying to not have my sons turn themselves into/ be turned into Professional Victims, and I have my work cut out for me given that they are only half Chinese. (The other half is black.)
And so, I will focus on purchasing some of his other books for them to read because they should not have as much uncomfortable baggage as this one does.
Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2020
Book Review
2 stars
Boxers
Gene Luen Yang
************************
I'm quite confused as to what this book is. It works very well for my sons, because they love the illustrations. On the other hand it is a little bit too advanced for a seven-year-old to understand.
As an Orthodox Jew, it's also probably a very inappropriate topic because it deals with cultures that have multiple gods / gods in human form.
Not appropriate.
I am also not too keen to explain to my sons what is "a flag made out of pubic hair," or what is menstrual blood. (Why are these in a book for kids anyway?)
It also has 3 very distinctly Chinese characteristics.
1. A man spends his life living out the conflicts of dead men. (Confucius the Confucian and Han Fei the Legalist have been dead for over 2000 years each, and the conflict between these ideologies has still not resolved itself in favor of one or the other.)
-The author of this book is a Chinese man from Taiwan, and he insists on using the quirky Wade-Giles romanization of the Chinese language. (You know, that system that is used nowhere in the world except there?)
Beijing is still "Peking" here.
-The era in which the current sometimes-government on Taiwan (the Guomindang/ KMT) has its origins right at the end of the Qing Dynasty. And predictably, this author chooses that insignificant fraction of time over the course of the very long Chinese history to study.
2. God and the emperor are the same person. And this author takes the trouble to bring back Qin Shi Huang as a deity. (Of course I know that people from the end of the Qing Dynasty all the way up through 1976 were ready for the concept of a god-king. But, that time has been finished long ago.)
3. Chinese people place themselves in a semi-divine status, where every Good First Cause is because of the Glorious Chinese People and Every Single Bad Thing is because of Foreign Devils.
And this can serve the purpose of keeping people whipped into a frenzy against some external enemy (This is, in fact, the strategy of the Communist Party.)
It can also make The Believer avoid asking any didactic questions about history.
There is also the issue of the ever-so-indistinct Chinese line between what is a man and what is God. (Let's remember that the emperor was thought to be the Son Of Heaven. And it doesn't matter which one of the 147 you choose. They all thought that they were God, and they wanted people to think the same.)
I'm just not sure what lessons I want my kids to draw from this, if any.
*Christianity is becoming very popular today in China, but those people that this author portrays - - likely somewhat tendentiously - - are not the same thing as the ones from a century ago. Nor is the mechanism of Chinese conversions the same then as now.
*The reason for the colonization and subjugation of the Celestial Kingdom had its origins at least a hundred years before the Boxer Rebellion. (That would be Lord McCartney's 1793 visit to the Qing emperor, after which he was told that his wares were "toys for children." Also, the emperor Qianlong asserted that McCartney was a subject of his, because he was the sovereign of all under heaven.)
If you didn't know that going into this book, you would not find it out.
The Christians may have been along for the ride with many other sovereign powers that were attacking a weak / corrupt/ besieged Dynasty. But, they were certainly not the causative factor--any more than one single snowflake is the cause of an avalanche.
And they may not even have been an impelling factor.
*The Qing dynasty was set up by Manchurians. And in that way, the interaction of the foreign powers was with them, and not with the majority Han Chinese.
It seems that the Han were props in somebody else's game during this period in history.
Verdict: Not recommended.
1. Yang has written other books, and his illustrative style is what the kids seem to like.
2. I'm trying to not have my sons turn themselves into/ be turned into Professional Victims, and I have my work cut out for me given that they are only half Chinese. (The other half is black.)
And so, I will focus on purchasing some of his other books for them to read because they should not have as much uncomfortable baggage as this one does.
I LOVE this art style! Combining historical fiction and magical realism done perfectly.
challenging
dark
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
I knew very little about this historical event when I started this book. Yang does an excellent job giving readers like me necessary details without pedantic monologues. Characters feel like real people, in all their nuance and shades of grey. I appreciate the parallel use of religious/spiritual culture as influencial for the Boxers.
I really enjoyed reading Boxers. I wasn't expecting certain parts of the story to go the way they did and it made me feel all the feelings. Going to read the companion Saints next!
Read for Librarian Book Group
Man, history is a bummer. And this comes from a person who enjoys history so much she majored in it in college. I loved the way this book (and the companion Saints) brought the nuances of the Boxer Rebellion to life. It did a great job of having me wanting both sides to win and lose because the whole thing is so massively depressing. I'm really ready to sit down and sing Kumbaya with the world and just all get along.
Unless, of course, women are going to be marginalized and mistreated as they are throughout this book, Red Lantern Brigade notwithstanding. Subjugation of women makes me want to spit and perhaps foment a rebellion of my own. Ideally using words and not weapons.
Man, history is a bummer. And this comes from a person who enjoys history so much she majored in it in college. I loved the way this book (and the companion Saints) brought the nuances of the Boxer Rebellion to life. It did a great job of having me wanting both sides to win and lose because the whole thing is so massively depressing. I'm really ready to sit down and sing Kumbaya with the world and just all get along.
Unless, of course, women are going to be marginalized and mistreated as they are throughout this book, Red Lantern Brigade notwithstanding. Subjugation of women makes me want to spit and perhaps foment a rebellion of my own. Ideally using words and not weapons.