American Born Chinese Coming of Age Quotes

Jin can't stop obsessing over the possibility that Amelia might like blond, curly-haired Greg, so what does he do? He changes his hairstyle and goes to school the next day with curly hair just like Greg's (only not blond). The effect? Totally ridiculous of course. But it's also pretty normal for a teenager. How do you think trends start anyway?

We feel for Danny. Really. High school's hard enough, and then you throw in a cousin like Chin-Kee? Who wouldn't feel embarrassed and humiliated by Chin-Kee's loud personality and appearance? But that's the point of Chin-Kee—he's Danny's big obstacle because he represents Danny's fears of his own Chineseness. More than that, Chin-Kee represents Danny's fear of what other people might think when they see someone who's Chinese.

Danny asks Melanie out on a date, but Melanie rejects him. Danny's convinced it's because of Chin-Kee, so he tells Melanie: "I'm nothing like him! I don't even know how we're related!" But of course he does know—he just won't admit it because he doesn't want to admit that he's actually Chinese too.