American Born Chinese Coming of Age Quotes

The Monkey King comes of age only when he meets Wong Lao-Tsai because Wong Lao-Tsai shows the Monkey King who he could be: a simple, humble monkey, just like Wong Lao-Tsai is a simple, humble monk. Plus Wong Lao-Tsai is willing to die on the spear while waiting for Monkey to come around. Self-sacrifice: now that's maturity for you.

When Wei-Chen tells Monkey that he thinks humans are "petty, soulless creatures" and that "the thought of serving them sickens [him]," that's actually a pretty mature realization. In another book, that might actually be the coming of age moment because it's a realization of how awful the world can be. But not in this book. What is the coming of age moment for Wei-Chen? Read on…

When Monkey says to Jin that "'[he] would have saved [him]self from five hundred years' imprisonment beneath a mountain of rock had [he] only realized how good it is to be a monkey,'" he's uttering the big idea of this book. It's also this idea that sends Jin into his big coming of age moment—the moment when he meets Wei-Chen at the Chinese restaurant. It just so happens that Jin's coming of age moment happens at about the same time as Wei-Chen's. They both learn to return to their original, humble selves together, which is perfect if you ask us. Because really—the book is all about Wei-Chen and Jin's friendship with each other.