ABC

= American Born Chinese! =



MY ABC REVIEW!
** A Fight to Stop Racism ** Emily Chrobak There are certain qualities that make for a good book, such as the skill to make you want to go back and read it again. __American Born Chinese__ does just that. Written by Gene Yang, it is a wonderful graphic novel that follows three plots. The first is the story of the Monkey King, who strives to be a god. It also tells the story of a young boy, Jin, who was born in China and is now going to a primarily white school. He is ridiculed and stereotyped because of his race. Throughout the book, he struggles with the search for acceptance by his peers. The third story consists of Chin-kee and Danny. Chin-kee, Danny’s cousin is a strong Chinese stereotype (squinty eyes, traditional clothing, buck teeth and a strong accent). Danny desperately tries to maintain his reputation while Chin-kee is visiting. The book deals with stereotyping; it pushes the reader to realize the negative effects of both negative and positive stereotyping. It also emphasizes the idea of accepting yourself and not giving in to being something you’re not. I enjoyed the fantastic coloring of the novel; each character is extremely distinctive but simply drawn. I also appreciated that the author didn’t simply give the moral away; you may have to give it some consideration. Usually in young adult books the moral is easily spotted and written to be obvious, there is no challenge to it. I did, however think that the easy flowing novel was swiftly resolved. I though that the ending could have been drawn out a little more. I thought that it was outstanding that the ending made me reflect and I wanted to go over the events in the book so far. I felt that I could value the meaning of the book more at that time. This book may be hard for children under 12years old to comprehend but I feel like anyone would be fond of this book, especially those who appreciate good quality illustrations and those who look for a unique moral in books. I have taken away more from __American Born Chinese__ than any book I’ve read within the past year.

Chrobak 1 Emily Chrobak English 8-5.5 10/22/08

=Reflections on the Online Conference with Gene Yang=

In my opinion, the online conference with Gene Yang was enlightening. I found it interesting that the events in Jin's life were heavily influenced by Gene's experiences. The events were either what happened to Gene or are a slight variation of them. The story lines were actually separate comics that Gene wrote, he couldn't decide which one he liked best, so he was able to incorporate each story into a graphic novel. I liked the way he cleverly merged the lesson that he wanted to teach with stories from his own life and the Monkey King's story. He believed that there are some things you can alter about yourself, but some things are chosen for you that you must accept. You can’t change your skin color or what race you are, those are some things about yourself that you need to accept before you are truly happy with yourself. I was really surprised at the fact that it took him four to eight hours to do a single page. I loved the way Gene illustrated the graphic novel. The characters were simple but each had extremely different physical traits. Gene helped me to understand the book better when he explained how people desire to be part of the majority no matter what race they are. Everyone wants to be accepted and considered an equal. I think online conferences are great because the author may help us to understand something in the book that we didn't quite understand. The author may also change our opinions or explain how he/she saw the book.

MY MONKEY KING STORY! “The Asian Monkey King” The Monkey King, known to the Chinese as Sun Wukong, is one of the most beloved fictional characters in the eastern world, according to Gene Yang. Yang writes, “He is like the Asian Mickey Mouse.” Haiwang Yuan states that the tale is based on the true story of the famous monk, Xuan Zang. After a decade of hardships, Zuan arrived in India on foot in search of the Buddhist holy books. Once he returned to China, he translated them into Chinese, thus making a remarkable impact on Buddhism is China. The Monkey King is an “allegorical rendition of the journey mingled with Chinese fables, fairy tales, legends, superstitions, popular beliefs, and monster stories.” One the website Adventures in __Chinese Culture; The Monkey King’s Story__, Julie Kulik, Kaiji Gu and David Patt state that the Monkey King was “born from a rock, fertilized by the grace of heaven and earth. With the intelligence and capability of a human, he instantly becomes a king for the monkeys of Flower Fruit Mountain.” His immortal Taoist master has taught him all of his magic and gongu. The Monkey King is capable of morphing into 72 different images such as a bird, tree, or insect. Clouds are his vehicle and he can travel up to 180,000 miles in a single somersault. According to Haiwang Yuan, the Monkey claimed to king in defiance of the Great Emperor of Jade, with authority over heaven, he seas, the earth, and the subterranean world. After several confrontations with the Monkey King the heavenly army endured many upsetting defeats. The story is about the Monkey King attempting to steal the throne from the emperor. “With few other choices, the celestial monarch allows the dove faction to offer the Monkey King an official, yet disposable title in heaven” (Yang). The Monkey King soon realizes that he has been mislead and ridiculed and he rebels. The monkey battles his way to earth and regains his title as the Monkey King. Eventually, the heavenly army enlists the help of all of the god warriors who manage to capture the Monkey King. He is then sentenced to capitol punishment, however all methods of execution fail and the monkey is able to fight his way back to earth again. At wit’s end, the emperor asks Buddha for assistance. The Buddha imprisons the Monkey King under a mountain. Xuan Zang, the Tang monk, finally comes to his rescue after 500 years. To ensure that Xuan Zang can make it to the west to find the Buddhist scriptures, Buddha arranges for the Monkey King to become the monk’s body guard. Two more disciples, also at the will of the Buddha, join their company, the daring pig and the sea monster. Now they were able to begin their trip west which was packed with several thrilling adventures. __Journey to the West,__ based on the story of Xuan Zang, is considered to be one of the four greatest Chinese novels. This novel also introduced the eminent Monkey King’s story. I believe that the Monkey King is especially influential to the Chinese for several reasons. The Monkey King was a content king before he became greedy with power. He sought after becoming an all powerful deity; he wasn’t satisfied with his position as a king which many would have strived for. It is better to be famous for being pleasant than to be notoriously feared. Cited Sources Kane, Karen. //“//About a little Monkey: The Origins of Journey to the West.” __Monkey’s World.__ 2008. 16. September 2008 http://monkeyjourneytothewest.com/the-world/features/about-a-little-monkey/.

Yuan, Haiwang. “Story of the monkey King.” __Welcome to China.__ 20 March 2004. 16 September 2008 .

Yang, Gene. __Humble Comics Presents Monkey Kingdom: A Tribute to Sun__ __Wukong, The Monkey King__. 2001 16 September 2008 