Racing Clouds

I love American Born Chinese and the messages it sends about race and the constant need to "fit in". The book starts out with three seemingly different tales, and then merges them all together at the climax. The first tale is the legendary folk tale of The Monkey King, and how he eventually becomes something he isn't. The second tale is the story of a second-generation child of immigrants from China named Jin Wang, who desperately wants to fit in. The third tale follows the story of an American boy named Danny, whose incredibly Chinese cousin Chin-Kee comes and visits, tuning his life upside down. The graphic novel format made a book that could have been boring or too serious and philosophical incredible enjoyable and easy to read. The plot does get a bit confusing at the climax of the novel, but it also ties the stories together nicely. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone who hasn't read it.