What books are similar to American Born Chinese?

The 10 closest matches to American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang on ReadingList include The Poet X, The Graveyard Book, Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and Speak. Each is scored on shared themes (identity, Chinese-American experience, and bullying), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 7–12), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.

Are books like American Born Chinese reading-level appropriate?

Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 7–12), so the picks stay grade-appropriate. See how ReadingList judges text difficulty on the /standard methodology page.

How does ReadingList choose similar books?

Matches are ranked by shared themes, shared award and reading-program lists (two books picked for the same state award were chosen by the same committees for the same readers), same genre, comparable Lexile and grade band, and publication decade — computed from cited public curriculum data, not editorial opinion or AI-generated summaries.

Books like American Born Chinese

If you liked American Born Chinese, read The Poet X, The Graveyard Book, or Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Looking for books like American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang (Young Adult Fiction · 530L · grades 7–12)? It’s most often read for its themes of identity, Chinese-American experience, and bullying. The 10 titles below are the closest matches in the ReadingList database — each scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level, and each linked to the curricula, states, and grades where it’s assigned, with primary sources.

These are reading-level matches, not just topical ones — so the picks stay grade-appropriate for a grades 7–12 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

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Why each is a match

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The Poet X800L: Shares themes of identity and coming of age, both on the Michael L. Printz Award list, and same genre (Young Adult Fiction). Amazon →
The Graveyard Book820L: Shares themes of identity and coming of age and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon →
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhoodgrades 9–12: Shares themes of identity and coming of age and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon →
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian600L: Shares themes of coming of age and a close reading level (600L vs 530L). Amazon →
Speak690L: Shares themes of identity, same genre (Young Adult Fiction), and a close reading level (690L vs 530L). Amazon →
The Perks of Being a Wallflower720L: Shares themes of coming of age, same genre (Young Adult Fiction), and a close reading level (720L vs 530L). Amazon →
Restart730L: Shares themes of identity and bullying and a close reading level (730L vs 530L). Amazon →
The Outsiders750L: Shares themes of identity, same genre (Young Adult Fiction), and a close reading level (750L vs 530L). Amazon →
Ender's Game780L: Shares themes of identity, same genre (Young Adult Fiction), and a close reading level (780L vs 530L). Amazon →
Save Me a Seat780L: Shares themes of identity and bullying and a close reading level (780L vs 530L). Amazon →

Books like American Born Chinese for younger readers (K–2)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps K–2— same scoring, different audience.

Dog Man by Dav Pilkey · 390L — Shares themes of identity and a close reading level (390L vs 530L).
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary · 860L — Shares themes of coming of age.
Beanie the Bansheenie by Eoin Colfer · grades 2–5 — Shares themes of identity.
Buffalo Fluffalo by Bess Kalb · grades K–2 — Shares themes of identity.
How This Book Got Red by Margaret Chiu Greanias · grades K–2 — Shares themes of identity.

Books like American Born Chinese for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 3–5— same scoring, different audience.

Blubber by Judy Blume · grades 4–7 — Shares themes of identity and bullying and overlapping grades (4–7).
Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt · 550L — Shares themes of bullying and a close reading level (550L vs 530L).
Blended by Sharon M. Draper · 610L — Shares themes of identity and a close reading level (610L vs 530L).
Dog Man by Dav Pilkey · 390L — Shares themes of identity and a close reading level (390L vs 530L).
Hoot by Carl Hiaasen · 760L — Shares themes of bullying and a close reading level (760L vs 530L).

Books like American Born Chinese for middle school (grades 6–8)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 6–8— same scoring, different audience.

Blubber by Judy Blume · grades 4–7 — Shares themes of identity and bullying and overlapping grades (4–7).
Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay · grades 7–12 — Shares themes of identity, same genre (Young Adult Fiction), and overlapping grades (7–12).
Never Thought I'd End Up Here by Ann Liang · grades 7–12 — Shares themes of identity, same genre (Young Adult Fiction), and overlapping grades (7–12).
The Forbidden Book by Sacha Lamb · grades 7–12 — Shares themes of identity, same genre (Young Adult Fiction), and overlapping grades (7–12).
Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt · 550L — Shares themes of bullying and a close reading level (550L vs 530L).

Books like American Born Chinese for high school & teens (grades 9–12)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 9–12— same scoring, different audience.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green · 850L — Shares themes of coming of age, same genre (Young Adult Fiction), and overlapping grades (9–12).
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan · 930L — Shares themes of identity and Chinese-American experience and overlapping grades (9–12).
Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay · grades 7–12 — Shares themes of identity, same genre (Young Adult Fiction), and overlapping grades (7–12).
Never Thought I'd End Up Here by Ann Liang · grades 7–12 — Shares themes of identity, same genre (Young Adult Fiction), and overlapping grades (7–12).
Shut Up, This Is Serious by Carolina Ixta · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of identity, same genre (Young Adult Fiction), and overlapping grades (9–12).

Book data last updated 2026-07-07. Matches are computed from each book’s cited attributes — see the methodology.

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