American Born Chinese

Title: American Born Chinese
Author: Gene Luen Yang
Genre: Graphic Novel
Page Count: 233
Why I read it: graphic novel challenge
Grade: B+

Synopsis:
A tour-de-force by rising indy comics star Gene Yang, American Born Chinese tells the story of three apparently unrelated characters: Jin Wang, who moves to a new neighborhood with his family only to discover that he’s the only Chinese-American student at his new school; the powerful Monkey King, subject of one of the oldest and greatest Chinese fables; and Chin-Kee, a personification of the ultimate negative Chinese stereotype, who is ruining his cousin Danny’s life with his yearly visits. Their lives and stories come together with an unexpected twist in this action-packed modern fable. American Born Chinese is an amazing ride, all the way up to the astonishing climax.  

My review:
I didn't read the synopsis for this before I read the book, and for that I was kind of glad.  I was surprised at the end when the three stories came together.  I had thought it was just jumping around to different stories, and it was, but I didn't have any clue that they would be related.

I didn't really expect to like this book very much.  It seems like with graphic novels, unless there's superheroes or fantasy it's usually a miss for me, but I really enjoyed this one.  There was something about it that was very engaging.  The artwork wasn't great for me, but I think the story made up for it.

I would recommend this one to someone starting out reading graphic novels, or if you're already a graphic novel fan.