The book won awards, critical acclaim, and popular success.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How does it feel for you to look back on the 10th anniversary ofAmerican Born Chinese?
GENE LUEN YANG:I think its crazy that people are still reading the book.
Credit: First Second Books
Its kind of crazy it was even a book in the first place.
I startedAmerican Born Chineseas a series of Xerox mini-comics.
To even have it as a full color graphic novel is kind of amazing.
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The fact its still on shelves 10 years later is just mind-blowing.
When I started in comics in the late 90s, Marvel Comics had declared bankruptcy.
It was not the powerhouse it is today.
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On Sunday it felt like there were more exhibitors than attendees.
It was like a ghost town.
Epic poetry used to be something everyone read, and now its a niche thing.
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What kind of changes do you mean?
The fact that Im full time at comics now is amazing.
Ten years ago I was a full time high school teacher, which I really loved.
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I never wouldve been able to imagine that I would be full-time in comics, and I am now.
I think things are definitely moving in a good direction.
It seems like theres a large conversation about diversity in American storytelling.
Not just comics, but in movies and TV and books.
I think its an important discussion to have because of the changing demographics of our nation.
Another thing I couldnt have imagined in the 90s was two sitcoms about Asian-American families.
Now we haveFresh Off the BoatandDr.
Ken thats just mind blowing to me that would happen.
How did you developSecret Coders?
Coding factored into all three.
I always thought those lessons would work well in a graphic novel format.
So thats whatSecret Codersis: Me taking these lessons I taught in my classroom and translating them into comics.
Im teamed up with a guy named Mike Holmes, whos an immensely talented cartoonist.
He worked onAdventure TimecomicsandBravest Warriorscomics before working with me onSecret Coders.
Hes fast, and his drawings have this energy to them that fits the series so perfectly.
In a lot of ways,Secret Codersis an experiment for me.
Its my first explicitly educational comic.
Ive always thought that in America theres been this dearth of educational comics.
If you go to Asia, there are an entire section of educational comics at your local bookstore.
What have you found so far?
I want to tell a compelling story, and I also want to get in some educational concepts.
With coding, there are some concepts that can be a little more difficult to understand.
Thats a benefit of comics, actually.
you’re able to rewind it and watch it again, but its a little bit clunky.
I dont know if thats actually happened yet, but thats the hope.
