(First Second / Macmillon Children’s Publishing Group) But after reluctantly befriending his new classmate Wei-Chen Sun (Jimmy Liu), Jin gets pulled into a battle over heaven between mythological gods. “It felt like I was playing a virtual reality video game.”īased on Yang’s award-winning graphic novel, “ American Born Chinese,” which premieres Wednesday on Disney+, follows Jin Wang (played by Ben Wang), a teenager that just wants to fit in, play soccer and win over his crush.

Whereas the promotional cycle for one of his books might involve appearances at events like librarian conferences, special advanced screenings of the TV series have taken Yang from the Bay Area to New York and even the White House.Īttending the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month celebration hosted by President Biden, which featured a screening of “American Born Chinese,” earlier this month “really felt like I was living somebody else’s life,” said Yang during a recent video call. Because, as Jessica Curry said, “anything is possible regardless of race, class, or gender.For cartoonist Gene Luen Yang, the lead-up to the premiere of “American Born Chinese” has been “very surreal.” An everyday moment became an extraordinary one…that continues to resonate its power, inspiration, and indelible impact. Parker saw the possibility and promise, the hopes and dreams of herself in this powerful painting of Michelle Obama. Then, Parker walks by Sherald’s portrait of Michelle Obama…and almost passes it. Parker Looks Up follows Parker, along with her baby sister and her mother, and her best friend Gia and Gia’s mother, as they walk the halls of a museum, seeing paintings of everyone and everything from George Washington Carver to Frida Kahlo, exotic flowers to graceful ballerinas. Inspired by this visit, Parker, and her mother, Jessica Curry, tell the story of a young girl and her family, whose trip to a museum becomes an extraordinary moment, in a moving picture book. When a nearby museum-goer snapped a photo of a mesmerized Parker, it became an internet sensation. She saw a queen-one with dynamic self-assurance, regality, beauty, and truth who captured this young girl’s imagination. When Parker Curry came face-to-face with Amy Sherald’s transcendent portrait of First Lady Michelle Obama at the National Portrait Gallery, she didn’t just see the First Lady of the United States. A visit to Washington, DC’s National Portrait Gallery forever alters Parker Curry’s young life when she views First Lady Michelle Obama’s portrait.

Book parker looks up