I think this story could resonate with a lot of teens who are either first generation Americans or who have immigrated to the US. There is often enormous social pressure for teens to abandon their culture and "become more American." I'm in a very Hmong American neighborhood, and had seen a lot of this in the late 1990s and early 2000s. With schools and community groups doing a better job embracing and celebrating cultural differences, I think this is changing, but this is not universal and it's not perfect.

Of note, younger teens may have a little trouble seeing the full picture here. My 13 year old daughter read this for a class and had a lot of trouble seeing how the three narratives connected. As an adult I can see how the main character is like the early Monkey King in trying to distance who he wants to be from who he really is.