American Born Chinese

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang intertwines three stories - a popular Chinese myth  of the Monkey King, the story of Jin, whose parents emigrated to the U.S. from China, and the story of Danny, an ostensibly blonde, white boy who has an over-the-top cousin from China, named Chin Kee.

The monkey king wants to be more than a mortal king, but is not accepted by the higher gods.  After expressing disdain for his supreme creator, he is buried by the creator under a pile of rocks for five hundred years.  Later a devotee of the creator goes to the monkey king and asks him to be his disciple.  The monkey king rejects his offer, but then realizes he can achieve freedom by realizing his true identity through the will of his creator and then breaks free from the rubble and serves the devotee until “the end”.  

After Jin and his family move from San Francisco’s Chinatown to the suburbs, he struggles with his racial identity and racially motivated bullying.  Life improves when a Chei from Taiwan arrives.  Chei is a good friend to Jin, and has even lied to Jin’s parents in order to assist Jin with his clumsy romantic pursuit.  A white, blonde boy at Jin’s and Chei’s school approaches Jin and and requests him not to go out with Amelia, since Jin is an inappropriate (Chinese) match, and Jin complies.  Jin tries to kiss Chei’s girlfriend, thus upsetting his relationship with Chei and finally Jin wishes to be something other than what he is - a nondescript, white boy.

Danny and Chin Kee are cousins, despite the obvious difference in their racial background.  Danny is a white, blonde boy and Chin Kee is ridiculous and embodies every negative stereotype that ever existed about the Chinese.  For most of the story, we do not know that Danny is Jin’s alter ego.  But at the story’s climax, we learn that Chin Kee is actually the monkey king and he comes to visit Danny every year to check on his son, who is actually Chei, who was sent to try to live with mortals while remaining free of human vice.  

The monkey king reveals Danny’s true form, which is actually Jin and asks Jin to rescue Chei, who has not been able to resist against immoral behavior.  Jin patiently pursues Chei and eventually the two sort out their relationship and continue with their devoted friendship.  Like the monkey king, Jin learns to love himself and his friend, Chei, who was always there for him.  

The primary theme of our discussion was how to best use the novel to prompt discussion and thought about race, discrimination, identity, and fitting in, all within a safe and respectful environment and giving students tools to comfortably and safely discuss volatile issues.  Group members discussed strategies they use in their own classroom, including setting rules early in the school year, learning how to disagree, learning how to speak up, openly and pointedly discussing issues (e.g. asking the class, “What does the author accomplish through the character of Chin Kee and the manner in which he is portrayed?”), and addressing stereotypes head-on by discussing their implications and meanings (e.g. pointing out components of the illustrations, such as Chin Kee’s luggage, which is actually Chinese food take out containers). Our group unanimously agreed that this narrative works only as a graphic novel, in that the message of the stories was carried by the illustrations.