American Born Chinese is a book about identity and assimilation. Jin Wang is an ABC (American Born Chinese). His parents came from a foreign land and were married after going to graduate school. Jin Wang has to balance the old and new worlds and find an identity as a teenager on his way to high school. Being an American is everything. He is cold towards a boy from Taiwan who does not speak English. Jin Wang tells him, “You’re in America. Speak English.” There is a parallel story about a monkey king and how he is rejected by a pantheon of human gods. No matter what the king does he can’t fit in. He has power amongst his own kind, even getting his monkey subjects to wear shoes. The monkey king represents Jin Wang and his quest to fit in. Both fail miserably and endure taunts and stereotypes about their cultures.
Jin Wang’s friend, Wei-Chen Sun, and Amelia, the love interest, are dynamic characters that add to the flow of the story. The tale of the monkey king and Jin Wang’s story of angst eventually collide and brings some cohesiveness to the tale. At points, who is who can be confusing.
The art stands out far more then the storyline. The contrast in colors between the characters and the drab backgrounds adds to the appeal of the tale. American Born Chinese is the first graphic novel to win a major publishing award (Printz). For this fact alone, American Born Chinese should be recognized as a literary achievement. However, it can be argued that previous graphic novels are far more deserving of the award.
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