Level Up

Gr 9 Up--Yang returns to the Asian American coming-of-age motif that he addressed so brilliantly in American Born Chinese (Roaring Brook, 2006). Dennis Ouyang is a video-game addict and a disappointment to his father, who insists that his son grow up to be a gastroenterologist. Dennis struggles to negotiate the tricky balance between his father's wishes and his own somewhat-ambivalent desires. The arrival of four childlike angels whose sole purpose is to motivate the teen in his studies complicates his struggle and serves to move the story away from pure realism. The narrative resolves quite handily, with Dennis discovering a method to combine his video-game skills with a career in medicine. While the story does not achieve the level of American Born Chinese, it is not without charm and bright moments; when the true nature of the angels is revealed, it cleverly dovetails with other story elements. Pham's artwork conveys the story in a satisfactory way but is somewhat repetitive in appearance. Overall, an interesting work, but an additional purchase.--Douglas P. Davey, Halton Hills Public Library, Ontario, Canada