"In 2006, comic artist Gene Luen Yang delivered a candid examination of "life on the hyphen" with American-Born Chinese, the first graphic novel to be shortlisted for the National Book Award and the first to win the ALA's coveted Michael L. Printz Award. Now, with Boxers & Saints, Yang tackles another brand of culture clash - the Boxer Rebellion - a bloody conflict that rocked China at the turn of the 20th century. Boxers, the first of the two-volume set, follows Little Bao, who, horrified by the rape of both his country and his culture takes up arms against the "foreign devils" to reclaim China for the Chinese. In Saints, an ostracized village girl finds acceptance and understanding in a small community of Western Christian missionaries, even as Chinese Christian refugees fleeing religious persecution at the hands of the Boxers pour into the mission from the surrounding countryside. Yang deftly presents both sides of this complicated historical moment, rendering it accessible to junior high school students and adults alike. He's funny, too, which makes these two poignant, counterbalanced stories even more absorbing."
Publisher First Second
Publication Date 2013-09-10
Section Children's/Teen Graphic Novels / Graphic Novels / All Staff Suggestions / Fiction Suggestions / Emily P.
Format Paperback
ISBN 9781596439245
One of the greatest comics storytellers alive brings all his formidable talents to bear in this astonishing new work.
In two volumes, Boxers & Saints tells two parallel stories. The first is of Little Bao, a Chinese peasant boy whose village is abused and plundered by Westerners claiming the role of missionaries. Little Bao, inspired by visions of the Chinese gods, joins a violent uprising against the Western interlopers. Against all odds, their grass-roots rebellion is successful.
But in the second volume, Yang lays out the opposite side of the conflict. A girl whose village has no place for her is taken in by Christian missionaries and finds, for the first time, a home with them. As the Boxer Rebellion gains momentum, Vibiana must decide whether to abandon her Christian friends or to commit herself fully to Christianity.
Boxers & Saints is one of the most ambitious graphic novels First Second has ever published. It offers a penetrating insight into not only one of the most controversial episodes of modern Chinese history, but into the very core of our human nature. Gene Luen Yang is rightly called a master of the comics form, and this book will cement that reputation.
This boxed set includes the trade paperback Boxers as well as the trade paperback Saints, packaged together in one slipcase.
