American Born Chinese

by

Gene Luen Yang

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on American Born Chinese makes teaching easy.

Suzy Nakamura Character Analysis

The only other Asian student in Jin’s elementary school before Wei-Chen arrives from Taiwan. Suzy is Japanese American and wears high-waisted pants and a striped shirt. At first, she and Jin ignore each other because their classmates believe that being the only Asian students means Suzy and Jin must either be related or engaged to be married. Her personality only begins to come out later when, in seventh grade, she begins dating Wei-Chen. At this point, she becomes more of a friend to Jin and teases him about his inability to speak coherently to Amelia. Her teasing, however, is good-natured and not at all malicious. Suzy confides in Jin that their classmates’ racism makes her feel somewhat embarrassed about being Asian all the time, which leads Jin to kiss Suzy without her permission. Being a self-possessed and confident individual, Suzy punches Jin in the face for this transgression.

Suzy Nakamura Quotes in American Born Chinese

The American Born Chinese quotes below are all either spoken by Suzy Nakamura or refer to Suzy Nakamura. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Identity and Prejudice Theme Icon
).
Chapter 8 Quotes

“About twenty minutes into the party, though, I figured out that Lauren didn’t actually invite me. Her mom wanted to hang out with my mom, and I sort of just got brought along. Lauren and her new friends had their own thing going, so I spent the rest of the party watching TV in the living room. I felt so embarrassed.

...Today, when Timmy called me a...a chink, I realized...deep down inside...I kind of feel like that all the time.”

Related Characters: Suzy Nakamura (speaker), Jin Wang/Danny, The Monkey King/Chin-Kee, Timmy
Page Number: 187
Explanation and Analysis:
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Suzy Nakamura Quotes in American Born Chinese

The American Born Chinese quotes below are all either spoken by Suzy Nakamura or refer to Suzy Nakamura. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Identity and Prejudice Theme Icon
).
Chapter 8 Quotes

“About twenty minutes into the party, though, I figured out that Lauren didn’t actually invite me. Her mom wanted to hang out with my mom, and I sort of just got brought along. Lauren and her new friends had their own thing going, so I spent the rest of the party watching TV in the living room. I felt so embarrassed.

...Today, when Timmy called me a...a chink, I realized...deep down inside...I kind of feel like that all the time.”

Related Characters: Suzy Nakamura (speaker), Jin Wang/Danny, The Monkey King/Chin-Kee, Timmy
Page Number: 187
Explanation and Analysis: