American Born Chinese

On their way to their new house, Jin’s mother tells Jin a Chinese parable. She says that long ago, a mother lived with her young son near a marketplace. The son spent his time pretending to buy and sell sticks and haggled with his friends. The mother decided to move to a house next to a cemetery, where the son played by burning incense and singing songs to dead ancestors. Finally, the mother moved to a house across from a university. Her son spent his time reading books about science, math, and history, and they stayed there for a long time. In the backseat, Jin plays with his Transformer action figure. They arrive at their new house.

Jin’s parents arrived in America at the same airport in the same week, but they didn’t meet until a year later in graduate school. Jin’s mother worked at a cannery, while Jin’s father sold wigs to pay for school. His father became an engineer and his mother became a librarian. They lived in an apartment near San Francisco’s Chinatown, where Jin was born. There were a number of other Chinese boys who lived in the same apartment complex. They’d all spend Saturday mornings in Jin’s apartment, watching cartoons, and then they’d stage epic battles between their Transformers.

Every Sunday, Jin’s mother visits the Chinese herbalist and takes Jin with her. The appointments often seem to drag on forever, and Jin has to sit out front with the herbalist’s wife. One slow Sunday, the herbalist’s wife asks Jin what he’s going to be when he grows up. Excitedly, Jin says he wants to be a Transformer. He holds up his Transformer toy and explains that Transformers are “robots in disguise.” He shows the woman how his Transformer changes from a robot into a truck. The herbalist’s wife seems amused. Jin sighs that his mother says that boys don’t grow up to be Transformers, but the herbalist’s wife says she has a secret for Jin: he can easily become anything he wants if he’s willing to forfeit his soul.

The day after Jin’s family moves into their new home, Jin starts third grade at Mayflower Elementary School. Mrs. Greeder introduces Jin as “Jing Jang” and says he came all the way from China. Jin corrects her on his name and that he’s from San Francisco. A boy named Timmy raises his hand and says that according to his mom, Chinese people eat dogs. Mrs. Greeder says that she’s sure Jin doesn’t do that—his family probably stopped as soon as they arrived in the U.S. The only other Asian student in the class is Suzy Nakamura. The class believes at first that Suzy and Jin must be related but when they realize they’re not, rumors spread that they’re arranged to be married on Suzy’s 13th birthday. Suzy and Jin avoid each other as much as they can.

Every day at lunch and recess, while the other kids play, Jin eats by himself at a picnic table. On one of Jin’s first days at school, Timmy and his crew approach and ask Jin what he’s eating. When Jin explains that he has dumplings for lunch, Timmy warns Jin to stay away from his dog. A blond boy with curly hair named Greg tells Timmy to be cool, but Timmy calls Greg a “pansy-boy.” Greg intimidates Timmy into backing down and taking back his insult. Timmy leads his friends away, insisting that they leave “bucktooth”—Jin—alone so he can finish eating Lassie. Greg looks back with pity and concern, but says nothing.

Jin makes his first friend about three months later. His name is Peter, and he’s known as “Peter the Eater” because he eats his boogers. At recess one day, he introduces himself to Jin by insisting that if Jin gives Peter his sandwich, they’ll be best friends—otherwise, Peter will beat Jin up and make Jin eat his boogers. Jin hands over his sandwich. They soon become friends and play games like “Kill the Pill” and “Crack the Whip.” Peter physically hurts Jin during these games. When they play their other favorite, “Let’s Be Jews,” Peter forces Jin to wear his mother’s bras on his head. Two years later, when Jin is in fifth grade, Peter goes to visit his dad over winter break. Peter never returns.

Wei-Chen Sun moves to town two months after Peter moves away. The teacher introduces him as Chei-Chen Chun from China. Wei-Chen corrects the teacher on his name and that he’s from Taiwan. For some reason, Jin wants to beat Wei-Chen up. Wei-Chen looks uncool: he wears huge glasses, a robot shirt, and high-waisted sweatpants. He approaches Jin during lunch and, in Mandarin, asks if he is Chinese. Jin spits that Wei-Chen should speak English in America. Wei-Chen struggles to ask his question in English and then asks if they can be friends. Jin insists he has enough friends. Though Jin is sitting alone, he points to the boys playing football in the field and ignores Wei-Chen.

Wei-Chen sits down a little ways away from Jin and sadly pulls out a Transformer. This sparks Jin’s interest. Wei-Chen explains that his Transformer changes from a robot into a monkey. His father gave it to him just before he left as a goodbye present. Jin asks to see it. Wei-Chen soon becomes Jin’s best friend.