American Born Chinese tells the story of Jin Wang, a son of Chinese immigrants, who struggles to assimilate at a predominately white school after moving from San Francisco's Chinatown to the suburbs. Jin's story is interwoven with the legend of the Chinese folk hero Monkey King , and a sitcom starring buck-toothed Chinese stereotype Cousin Chin-Kee.

Yang's drawings are created with what Scott McCloud refers to as a "cheap tool bravado," using everything from brushes to Sharpie markers to Pigma Micron pens to ballpoint pens. His artwork has been shown in San Francisco's Cartoon Art Museum. Following American Born Chinese, Yang wrote The Eternal Smile , a collection of 3 short stories in comics, done in collaboration with Derek Kirk Kim. His latest book is Prime Baby, originally serialized in The New York Times Magazine.

Yang currently lives with his family in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he teaches computer science at Bishop O'Dowd High School. His father is an electrical engineer from Taiwan and his mother a programmer who grew up in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

• The Humble Comic , San Francisco Chronicle, May 11, 2008

• Interview with Gene Luen Yang, Kartika Review