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 Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Fault in Our Stars, and Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood. 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 Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, or The Perks of Being a Wallflower — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Closest match: The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo — shares identity and coming of age

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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 → books like this →
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian600L: Shares themes of coming of age and a close reading level (600L vs 530L). Amazon → books like this →
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 → books like this →
The Fault in Our Stars850L: Shares themes of coming of age, same genre (Young Adult Fiction), and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhoodgrades 9–12: Shares themes of identity and coming of age and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →
Speak690L: Shares themes of identity, same genre (Young Adult Fiction), and a close reading level (690L vs 530L). Amazon → books like this →
The Joy Luck Club930L: Shares themes of identity and Chinese-American experience and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →
Everything We Never Hadgrades 7–12: Shares themes of identity, same genre (Young Adult Fiction), and overlapping grades (7–12). Amazon → books like this →
Never Thought I'd End Up Heregrades 7–12: Shares themes of identity, same genre (Young Adult Fiction), and overlapping grades (7–12). Amazon → books like this →
Shut Up, This Is Seriousgrades 9–12: Shares themes of identity, same genre (Young Adult Fiction), and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →

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

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

The Recess Queen by Alexis O'Neill · grades K–3 — Shares themes of bullying.
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary · 860L — Shares themes of coming of age.
Big Bad Bruce by Bill Peet · grades K–3 — Shares themes of bullying.

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

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

The Recess Queen by Alexis O'Neill · grades K–3 — Shares themes of bullying.
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary · 860L — Shares themes of coming of age.
The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes · 870L — Shares themes of bullying.
Big Bad Bruce by Bill Peet · grades K–3 — Shares themes of bullying.

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

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

The Forbidden Book by Sacha Lamb · grades 7–12 — Shares themes of identity, same genre (Young Adult Fiction), and overlapping grades (7–12).
Monster by Walter Dean Myers · 670L — Same genre (Young Adult Fiction) and a close reading level (670L vs 530L).
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton · 750L — Shares themes of identity, same genre (Young Adult Fiction), and a close reading level (750L vs 530L).
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card · 780L — Shares themes of identity, same genre (Young Adult Fiction), and a close reading level (780L vs 530L).
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds · 720L — Same genre (Young Adult Fiction) and a close reading level (720L 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 Forbidden Book by Sacha Lamb · grades 7–12 — Shares themes of identity, same genre (Young Adult Fiction), and overlapping grades (7–12).
The Silence That Binds Us by Joanna Ho · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of identity, same genre (Young Adult Fiction), and overlapping grades (9–12).
Monster by Walter Dean Myers · 670L — Same genre (Young Adult Fiction) and a close reading level (670L vs 530L).
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd · 840L — Shares themes of coming of age and overlapping grades (9–11).
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton · 750L — Shares themes of identity, same genre (Young Adult Fiction), and a close reading level (750L vs 530L).

Common questions

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 Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Fault in Our Stars, and Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood. 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.

Book data last updated 2026-09-05. Matches are computed from each book’s cited attributes — see the methodology.

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