Author and Illustrator Gene Luen Yang did pull heavily from his own experiences growing up between Chinese and American cultures when writing his graphic novel American Born Chinese. When he talks at schools and libraries, he finds that kids who feel like outsiders—whether because they are the children of immigrants, balancing two cultures, or kids dealing with issues around LGBTQ—connect deeply to his book. And through the more subtle use of words and the more visceral, reaction-making use of comic illustrations, he could better communicate the emotional reality of feeling alone, of not fitting in.
