American Born Chinese

Three stories blended together: a straightforward, heartachey tale of middle school trials and tribs, where a Chinese-American kid doesn't want his Chinese heritage; a monkey king who doesn't wanna be a monkey; and a surreal, faux sitcom featuring an all-American, WASPy teenager, Danny, who is constantly embarrassed by his AWFUL, caricature-of-a-racist-stereotype Chinese cousin, Chin-Kee.

The ending felt a little too abrupt for me, and the weaving together of the three stories was a little so-so. It was definitely an unexpected resolution, and clever. But it also felt a little deus ex machina - actually, I guess it was a literal DEM.

The art was blunt, flat, bright and straightforward. Not as crazily complex and hallucinatory as Habibi, nor as delicate in gesture and tone as The Nao of Brown. I enjoyed the art in those two books a lot more. But American Born Chinese's art is fine, even if uninspiring.