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rose_dragon 's review for:
Boxers
by Gene Luen Yang
adventurous
informative
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Why does the artwork make caricatures of the Chinese? Why did the Chinese use the term that the Portueges and others used for them? (I.e. Foreign devils was a term used in the west, to my understanding. Chinese natives used the term for Western people or people from the west and that encompassed everyone from the edge of China onward so...). What was the message? What is the takeaway, the meaning that the children this book is aimed toward are supposed to learn? The fact that the boy who became a martial arts master got to live while the girl died takes away from the power of the ending of both books. I think there are other books by Chinese and Chinese Americans or other Chinese immigrants around the world that would be a better middle-grade introduction to the Boxers war. I was sorely disappointed that the author did not take the chance to weave in what history means for current-day Beijing and Hong Kong.
I would not recommend this book to middle-grade readers.
I would not recommend this book to middle-grade readers.