Elaine Loft, Staff Writer
On Monday, September 15, graphic novelist, MacArthur Genius award recipient, and, most recently, winner of three Eisner Awards (known as the Oscars of the comics industry) for his book Lunar New Year Love Story, Gene Luen Yang was the speaker at Community Meeting. Yang’s presentation kicked off the annual Community Enrichment Programming at Derryfield, which is supported by the Isakovitch-Critz Family. The theme of the school’s summer 2025 reading program was “Reaching Across Divides,” and a major focus of Yang’s work is encouraging young people to read widely across genres in a way that gets them out of their comfort zones.
American Born Chinese, Yang’s first graphic novel, was the first-ever graphic novel to be named a finalist for the National Book Award. His follow-up solo graphic novel, Boxers & Saints, was also a National Book Award finalist, and won the Printz Honor and the LA Times Book Prize for Young Readers. Currently, Yang is writing the graphic novel series Secret Coders, illustrated by Mike Holmes. This middle-grade series uses narrative to teach kids about computer programming. Yang is a strong proponent of using comics in education, and of representing diversity through the comics medium.
Yang spoke to the Derryfield audience about his experience with reading, and described the work of Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, who pioneered the idea that it is vital for all young readers to have the experience of seeing themselves, considering different perspectives, and stepping into the lives of others through literature. Yang elaborated,
“Every reader in America needs two kinds of books–they need window books, that allow you to see into the lives of people who are different from you, and mirror books, that reflect your own experience back to you. Window books allow us to love our neighbor, and mirror books allow us to love ourselves.”
When Yang was National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature (2016-17), touring the country speaking to young readers, he incorporated Bishop’s ideas into his own platform. The central theme of his presentations was “reading without walls,” explaining that “reading without walls is a way of emphasizing that books can act like both mirrors or platforms.” Yang went on to issue a challenge to the Derryfield audience.
“Set a due date for yourself, and by the end of that due date try to accomplish one of three things: read a book about a character that doesn’t look like you or think like you, or read a book about a topic you know nothing about, or read a book in a format you don’t normally read for fun. If you really want to go for the gold, find a book that fits all three criteria.”
In addition to his presentation at Community Meeting, Yang offered a lunchtime workshop on “Making Comics,” which included a presentation about his process, beginning to end, of creating a graphic novel. He led an activity where the students drew characters, and created a backstory for them. The group was invited to pitch ideas for a larger narrative/conflict. At the end of the day Yang worked with the entire eighth grade, focusing on his book American Born Chinese.
