Graphic novels can be powerful tools for explaining chapters in history for readers of any age. A new middle-grade graphic novel by writer Amy Chu (Deadpool, Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life, Carmilla: The First Vampire), co-writer Alexander Chang, and artist Louie Chin charts key moments in Asian American and Pacific Islander history. The book, entitled Fighting to Belong! Vol 1: Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander History from the 1700s Through the 1800s, is published by Third State Books in partnership with the Asian American Foundation. It is the first in a series of three volumes that will cover the extent of AANHPI history to the present day.
While Fighting to Belong! covers a broad swath of AANHPI history, it also uses a fictional framework to ease readers into their exploration of the past. The story is based around a group of middle-grade students who must work together on a multimedia group project about AANHPI history. One of the students asks her neighbor, Kenji, a tour guide at the American History Museum, to help guide them through their project. Little do they know that Kenji is a wizard who can create portals into the past! As such, Kenji gives our heroes a front row seat to watershed moments in AANHPI history.
Fighting to Belong! is extraordinary because of its ability to make the details of complex topics like the history of immigration and labor law accessible to younger readers. As someone who studied Asian American history in college, but struggled to find a way to discuss things like the Page Act of 1875 (which prohibited Chinese women from immigrating to America) with the youngest members of my family, Fighting to Belong! is a revelation. It may have taken me until college to have the chance to learn about AANHPI history, but kids today now have excellent resources like Fighting to Belong! to jumpstart exploration into an important dimension of American history.
One of the things I appreciated most about Fighting to Belong! is its focus on the diversity within the AANHPI community. The story is led by a group of characters including a Filipino-Chinese American boy, an Asian Indian American girl, and their tour guide, a Japanese-Haitian American man. Mainstream concepts of the AANHPI community has often been limited to just the experiences and cultures of East Asian Americans. Spotlighting various Asian cultures within the book’s cast of characters is thus an important step forwards.
Additionally, one of the book’s greatest strengths is that its characters react to the injustices that they bear witness to. Again, to speak from personal experience, I remember feeling uncomfortable, isolated, and upset when I first learned about the Chinese Exclusion Act in fourth grade, as the only Chinese American and person of color in the class. The young characters’ outraged responses to racist legislation will give younger readers an appropriate emotional tether when learning about such hurtful events. The interactions between the characters and the history they observe thus provide a conversational model for young readers to discuss difficult or upsetting topics.
Fighting to Belong!‘s artwork by Louie Chin is perfectly suited for today’s visual culture where WEBTOON reigns supreme for young people. The simplicity of the artwork works to support, but not detract from, the complexity of historical information in the book. Readers aren’t burdened by difficult images to parse through on top of details about immigration law. At times, however, the book suffers from clunkiness from panel to panel. It can sometimes feel less like a work of sequential art, and more like a slideshow. That said, given the huge territory that Fighting to Belong! covers in its first volume, this is understandable.
Fighting to Belong! revolutionizes how Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander history can be discussed and taught. It provides an accessible entry point for middle-grade students’ exploration into AANHPI history, while never feeling condescending. While many AANHPI adults today never had the opportunity to learn about their history in grade school, Fighting to Belong! envisions a brighter future for younger generations.
Join the AIPT Patreon
Want to take our relationship to the next level? Become a patron today to gain access to exclusive perks, such as:
- ❌ Remove all ads on the website
- 💬 Join our Discord community, where we chat about the latest news and releases from everything we cover on AIPT
- 📗 Access to our monthly book club
- 📦 Get a physical trade paperback shipped to you every month
- 💥 And more!
You must be logged in to post a comment.