Every year, the National Book Foundation recognizes achievements in fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and young people's literature. Last year, the award in the young people's literature category went to Jeanne Birdsall for her novel The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy
(All of these nominated books are pretty new releases -- most have been published over the last month and Keturah and Lord Death doesn't hit bookstores till November -- so if you haven't read them yet, don't feel bad.)
Here's a plot synopsis of American Born Chinese, taken from the book's website:
All Jin Wang wants is to fit in...
When his family moves to a new neighborhood, he suddenly finds that he's the only Chinese--American student at his school. Jocks and bullies pick on him constantly, and he has hardly any friends. Then, to make matters worse, he falls in love with an all-American girl ...
Born to rule over all the monkeys in the world, the story of the Monkey King is one of the oldest and greatest Chinese fables. Adored by his subjects, master of the arts of kung-fu, he is the most powerful monkey on earth. But the Monkey King doesn't want to be a monkey. He wants to be hailed as a god ...
Chin-Kee is the ultimate negative Chinese stereotype, and he's ruining his cousin Danny's life. Danny's a basketball player, a popular kid at school, but every year Chin-Kee comes to visit, and every year Danny has to transfer to a new school to escape the shame. This year, though, things quickly go from bad to worse ...
These three apparently unrelated tales come together with an unexpected twist, in a modern fable that is hilarious, poignant, and action-packed. American Born Chinese is an amazing ride, all the way up to the astonishing climax - and confirms what a growing number of readers already know: Gene Yang is a major talent.
You can also read an excerpt of the book here.
I was very excited when I heard the news about the nomination of American Born Chinese:
(a) Because the nomination is further proof (if Maus's Pulitzer Prize wasn't proof enough) that the graphic novel genre is gaining ground in the literary world and that it can address important themes and ideas. Hey, maybe more teachers will even begin to take the genre more seriously as a form of literature.
(b) Because the story his book tells is one that needs to be told and heard more often. To quote the School Library Journal, "Like Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye and Laurence Yep's Dragonwings, this novel explores the impact of the American dream on those outside the dominant culture in a finely wrought story that is an effective combination of humor and drama." In other words, the American dream comes in many shades and stripes and it's heartening to see a book that tells the story of the minority experience come into the spotlight.
I came to the US when I was in the 6th grade and I know a little something about moving to a new school and neighborhood (plus country) as a teenager. It's not easy. Books like this one would have helped me, I'm sure ... because reading it would have made me feel less alone.
It doesn't matter how old you are. Change is always difficult and being a stranger to a new place is always a challenge so I look forward to reading the book and learning from Jin Wang's experience.
If any of you have read American Born Chinese (or any of the NBA nominees), I'd love to hear what you thought!
