New York : First Second, 2013.
328 p. : chiefly col. ill. ; 21 cm.
Yang's American Born Chinese continues to circulate well with readers at our high school, and I hope that Boxers will do the same. With both fiction and graphic novels, the challenge of having historical events as the subject is finding the heart and power of that event and translating it to the genre being used. I think it is a difficult challenge for any author, but especially for author's of young adult readers - where the desire to get lost in a book is a powerful appeal for readers already surrounded by informational text. But it can be done, and I think Boxers proves it!
One never forgets that the power of Yang's book is the story and the characters involved in it. There is romance, danger, humor, wistfulness, longing, justice and magic propelling the story forward. The comic artwork is clear, powerful, and interesting to look at. Not convinced? Take a look at some sample pages provide by Macmillian Publishers.
I was struck, after reading Boxers, at how cleverly the story made me want to know more about the actual history - and - at how pathetically little I know of Chinese history. I had heard of the Boxer Rebellion, but knew little about it. Furthermore, in reading some of the history that preceded it, I came across references to the Taiping Rebellion - a 14 year civil war that killed an estimate 20 million people! And this is history that I knew nothing about.
So do I recommend this book? Absolutely. It is a wonderful work of literary and visual art, and for teachers who might want to include it in a history class, there is even an extensive online teacher's guide to accompany the book.
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