While reading American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang, I had to consistently remind myself that it was graphic novel for young adults. Without that reminder I found myself growing a little weary of the premise — dealing with racism in America, trying to find your identity, etc.

But when I kept in mind that this book is not meant for the jaded, cynical eyes of an adult reader I found myself delighted with the way Yang told this story.

Yang presents his point through three stories. First we have the tale of the Monkey King who goes to a dinner party of the gods and is rejected because he’s a monkey. The gods are not nice and make the Monkey King embarrassed of who his. He spend the rest of his story trying to overcome that.

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