American Born Chinese Chapter Summary

American Born Chinese- The Need to Belong

The book starts out with three seemingly different tales, and then merges them all together.
In the book American Born Chinese, all 3 stories largely reflect about needing, or wanting, to fit in.

The first tale is about the Monkey King who goes to a celestial dinner party, but is denied entrance because he is a monkey and does not wear shoes. He then locks himself in his chamber to learn the twelve disciplines of kung fu, when he is summoned to the underwater kingdom to be executed. He goes around causing chaos, until Tze-Yo-Tzuh, his creator, stops him. As a result, the Monkey King flees, carving his name into five pillars of gold at the end of his trip, as well as relieving himself on one of the pillars. Afterward, he again meets his creator, who shows him his fingers, which were in reality the five pillars of gold. Tze-Yo-Tzuh then buries the Monkey King in a mountain of rubble.
After many years, the Monkey King is asked by an unworthy monk to release himself from the mountain he is buried under so he can be the monk's disciple.
At first, he refuses, but when the monk is injured by two giant monsters, he returns to his true form, and uses his disciplines to get rid of the giants. He takes the monk to the nearest village, and then begins his journey to the west.
This tale shows that the Monkey King felt the need to belong, all because of what happened at the dinner party, and was not accepted. This was why he learnt all the twelve disciplines, to show that he is more worthy, and powerful than just a monkey, and equal to the
heavens.

The second story then begins with a Chinese American boy, Jin Wang, who has moved to a new home. When he goes to school, the teacher mispronounces his name, boys pick on him, and rumors arise that he is betrothed to a Japanese girl named Suzy Nakamura. Two months later, a new student from Taiwan arrives, named Wei Chen. At first Jin does not like him, but later the two become friends, bonding over Wei Chen's Transformer toy.
In the 7th grade, Jin begins to have a crush on a classmate of his, Amelia Harris. Later on, Wei Chen and Suzy start to date. Jin starts to get jealous when he catches Amelia giggling with another boy in their class, Greg. Jin changes his appearance, especially his hairstyle, to look more like Greg’s, to become more noticed.
One day, Wei Chen and Amelia get trapped in a supply closet and Jin comes to their rescue, asking Amelia out, who eagerly accepts.

The third tale follows the story of an American boy named Danny, whose Chinese cousin Chin-Kee comes and visits every year. Chin-Kee is the ultimate Chinese stereotype in terms of accent, fashion sense, hairstyle, appearance, and hobbies. Danny is having a study date with a friend, Melanie. When he is about to ask her out, his parents announce that his cousin, Chin-Kee, has come for his annual visit. Chin-Kee insults Melanie, and causes her to leave.
Danny is quite embarrassed by his Chinese cousin, since he is such a stereotypical Chinese person, and is embarrassed to be seen with him. This is because all Danny wants his to blend in with his American school crowd. People at his school make fun of him whenever he is with Chin-Kee, and are also racist about his Chinese culture. Which is why Danny always has to change schools, because he always gets teased about his cousin, which is overall why he wants to fit in and be a normal American boy in his school and get rid of Chin-Kee.