Recently, I sat down to read the graphic (comic book) novel, American Born Chinese. It is about the life of a Chinese-American boy named Jin who struggles with is identity as an Asian and especially as an Asian male in America.

The author Gene Luen Yang intertwined Jin’s story with the legendary story of The Monkey King, and the story of a boy named Danny who is ashamed of his cousin Chin-Kee from China who comes to visit him every year. I could not put the novel down when I first picked it up. The illustrations that were used in the novel were very vivid and colorful. They brought to life the stereotypes, the pains, and the joys that the characters in the novel faced. I highly recommend for everyone to pick this book up and sit down for a fresh, exciting read.

The novel American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang is available at: Amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble.