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While American Born Chinese attempts to use satire and overt racism to dismantle stereotypes about Asians, it was entirely ineffective. The book not only utilizes common stereotypes about Chinese people, but it also introduced stereotypes to my class that we, as a group of college students, had never even encountered. The story simplifies Chin-Kee’s entire personality into a Chinese racist caricature, which is honestly difficult to read and wildly uncomfortable. I understand that the purpose of the story was to utilize stereotypes and racist tropes in order to dismantle them while providing a wholesome message about accepting all of the aspects of one’s identity. However, this is not shown obviously enough, making the novel really dangerous as a YA book. Children who read this may not pick up on the satirical aspects of Chin-Kee’s character in particular, and may instead only leave the novel with reaffirmed stereotypes, and even new racist jokes that they may never have learned. If the author had been more clear at the conclusion of the story about his intended message in regards to Chinese culture, the novel may have been passable. Because it is not made abundantly clear, children and many educators may find its satire and racial commentary hard to both identify and teach on. Therefore, this book should not be read by children unsupervised, and educators should approach the incorporation of it into their curriculum with caution. One useful application of this book could be to teach students about modern satire, but if the point of the lesson is not surrounding the satire and therefore the problematic aspects of this book, it should be omitted from the canon.