Review by Booklist Review
In his new story, Yang explores the daunting pressure of parental expectation while still applying generous doses of video-game references and goofy humor. The fact that Dennis Ouyang is about as good a gamer as they come doesn't jive so well with his parents, who expect him to go to medical school and become a gastroenterologist. After he flunks out of college, Dennis is visited by a quartet of pushy angels, who harangue him into getting his act together, and he squashes down thoughts of following his heart in exchange for making his dead father proud. Yang hands the cartooning duties to Pham, whose loose watercolors and unfussy, energetic figures keep the tone light, contrasting, at turns, the deeply sober yet playful story. This isn't new territory for Yang or comics in general (both his American Born Chinese, 2006, and Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim graphic novels are spiritual kin), but Yang handles coming-of-age with the best of them and delivers a terrific twist in the finale, revealing how honoring both your family and yourself can find a happy balance.--Chipman, Ian Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Yang, writer-artist of National Book Award finalist American Born Chinese, writes this magical-realist tale of Asian-American parental pressure and video-game escape, leaving the art to up-and-comer Pham. Dennis Ouyang struggles with the burden of his dead father's orders that he study hard, go to med school, and become a gastroenterologist. When Dennis, inspired by four mysterious angels, gives up his passion-video games-and buckles down to his studies, he befriends three fellow second-generation students and begins to make a place in med school. But a crisis in confidence reveals the true nature of his guardian angels, and the real source of his father's dreams for his only son. Pham's watercolors can be charming, but his primarily gray and brown palette gets visually monotonous; thankfully, his work increases in energy as the plot does. Yang's familiar story of immigrant striving and filial rebellion gets just enough juice from its connection to arcade culture. A bravura storytelling and visual twist near the end brings together the plot's several strands. A minor work from Yang, but a welcome introduction to Pham, whose own upcoming First Second graphic novel, Sumo, looks promising. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up-Yang returns to the Asian American coming-of-age motif that he addressed so brilliantly in American Born Chinese (Roaring Brook, 2006). Dennis Ouyang is a video-game addict and a disappointment to his father, who insists that his son grow up to be a gastroenterologist. Dennis struggles to negotiate the tricky balance between his father's wishes and his own somewhat-ambivalent desires. The arrival of four childlike angels whose sole purpose is to motivate the teen in his studies complicates his struggle and serves to move the story away from pure realism. The narrative resolves quite handily, with Dennis discovering a method to combine his video-game skills with a career in medicine. While the story does not achieve the level of American Born Chinese, it is not without charm and bright moments; when the true nature of the angels is revealed, it cleverly dovetails with other story elements. Pham's artwork conveys the story in a satisfactory way but is somewhat repetitive in appearance. Overall, an interesting work, but an additional purchase.-Douglas P. Davey, Halton Hills Public Library, Ontario, Canada (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Yang (American Born Chinese) returns to familiar territory in this graphic novel about an Asian American college student torn between following his own path (video game expert) and his dead father's wishes (gastroenterologist). Pham's unfussy art (markedly different from Yang's own illustration style) provides a freshness that complements both the story's serious and humorous moments. (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Amy Chua's Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother describes high-pressure parenting to produce high achievers; Yang explores the other side of the equation.Dennis Ouyang's destiny, as decreed by his late, Chinese-immigrant father, is to become a gastroenterologist. Except he's flunked out of college, done in by his passion for videogames. In the nick of time to rescue his dad's dream, four little angels arrive. (Dennis recognizes them from the card his dad gave him when he was eighth-grade valedictorian.) They cook and clean for Dennis, get him reinstated and make sure he studies. Cute but relentless, they won't let him pause to celebrate his admission to medical school but march him on to the next step in Project Gastroenterologist. When Dennis develops a social life, the angels reveal their scary side, pushing him to decisions of his ownbut, frustratingly, the story punts on why Dennis chooses as he does. Pham's slyly muted art, infused with console-game design, gives Dennis an appropriately (given his issues) childlike look. Those creepy angels will stay with readers. As narrative, Yang's immigrant-parent themelike the "be yourself" message of his Printz Awardwinning American Born Chineseis conventional; braided with parallel strands of startlingly original imagery, though, it becomes more.A piquant, multilayered coming-of-age fable for the wired generation. (Graphic novel. 10 up)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
