Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- What's the deal with the structure of the book? Why are there three different stories (Jin, the Monkey King, and Danny/Chin-Kee) intertwined with each other?
- Why is the Monkey King so important to a Chinese American teenaged boy? How is the Monkey King both an inspiration and a cautionary tale for Jin?
- What's up with the whole Danny/Chin-Kee relationship? Why does Yang make Danny into a blonde, white dude who's got a Chinese cousin?
- Jin does some pretty terrible things to his (only) friend Wei-Chen. If you were Wei-Chen, how would you deal with Jin's betrayals?
- Some sections of the novel have a small note that states Translated from Mandarin Chinese. Why does Yang bother to add this note for the reader?
- This book is pretty much all about how (Chinese American) boys feel and think, but there is the Japanese American girl character Suzy Nakamura. What would the story be like if it were told from Suzy's perspective?
- Even though the main characters in the book are teenagers (with the exception of the Monkey King), there are adults in the story. What is the purpose of having these adult characters in the story?