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A review by lily1304
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
I love the interwoven stories, I love the art style, I love Jin and Wei-Chen, I love the way it switches between realistic and fantasy. It's about Asian-American adolescence, but the broader themes of identity and acceptance are relatable.
What bugged me though was the Christian-ness throughout, maybe because for the first few pages it doesn't seem like a Christian novel. When I first read this for a class, my European classmates didn't even realize. But at one point a character just directly quotes a Psalm, at another point the Holy Family literally appear, etc. I read that Yang used to work for InterVarsity, which is one of several youth/college ministries known for using bat-and-switch tactics to try to convert people. It just makes me seriously question Yang's motivations and opinions and wonder if he still has some seriously bad evangelical takes.
Yang uses Chinese stories and mythology to support the story, but also weaves in Christianity until I'm not sure anymore what's Chinese culture and what Yang made up. Is Tze-Yo-Tze (God) actually a character in Chinese mythology, or just Christian God thrown in? Of course, the book is really about Asian-Americans and authenticity, and there's a strong evangelical Asian-American subculture... maybe these are the exact questions Yang intends to provoke.
What bugged me though was the Christian-ness throughout, maybe because for the first few pages it doesn't seem like a Christian novel. When I first read this for a class, my European classmates didn't even realize. But at one point a character just directly quotes a Psalm, at another point the Holy Family literally appear, etc. I read that Yang used to work for InterVarsity, which is one of several youth/college ministries known for using bat-and-switch tactics to try to convert people. It just makes me seriously question Yang's motivations and opinions and wonder if he still has some seriously bad evangelical takes.
Yang uses Chinese stories and mythology to support the story, but also weaves in Christianity until I'm not sure anymore what's Chinese culture and what Yang made up. Is Tze-Yo-Tze (God) actually a character in Chinese mythology, or just Christian God thrown in? Of course, the book is really about Asian-Americans and authenticity, and there's a strong evangelical Asian-American subculture... maybe these are the exact questions Yang intends to provoke.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, and Bullying