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Gene Luen Yang
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Animal Crackers: A Gene Luen Yang Collection Paperback – October 23, 2012

by Gene Luen Yang (Author, Artist)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 10 ratings
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Purchase options and add-ons

  • The early work of Gene Luen Yang, author of American Born Chinese, is collected in this special edition containing Gordon Yamamoto and the King of the Geeks, and Loyola Chin and the San Peligran Order, plus an all-new story by Yang. Animal Crackers: A Gene Luen Yang Collection tells two stories of two very different young people who encounter the extraordinary while living their ordinary lives. Gordon, a sweet but not very deep-thinking high school student, has his life as a bully disrupted when a tiny alien aircraft lodges in his nostril. Meanwhile, Loyola must question her surety in her intellect when a junk-food-fueled dream encounter with a powerful alien being forces her to ask if it's better to be smart than virtuous.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    216 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    SLG Publishing
  4. Publication date
    October 23, 2012
  5. Reading age
    13 - 16 years
  6. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.4 x 8.5 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    1593621833
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1593621834
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

It’s easy to see the seeds of Yang’s aesthetic—the personification of heavy personal trauma, leavened by persistent goofiness—in this collection of two of his earliest works. Indeed, even the clean lines and uncluttered composition of his visual style seem already honed, if not perfected. In the first story, a kinda-bully befriends a nerd whose hatred of his awful father has anthropomorphized into huge, murderous animal crackers. In the second, a girl falls for a dream-spirit named Saint Danger, who plans to save humanity from an alien invasion by deciding who is unfit enough for survival. The two stories share a few tangential relationships, cast of characters, and a secret society of microbots who store data up people’s nostrils. The power of Yang’s work comes from his ability to juggle a lot of ideas while working on several different levels all at once. When it clicks, it’s sublime; when it doesn’t quite, like here, it’s still pretty thought-provoking. In an especially fine bonus, Yang recounts his journey from child comics enthusiast to self-published cartoonist and details the finer points of his artistic process. Grades 8-12. --Ian Chipman

Review

(review is of Gordon Yamamoto and the King of the Geeks, which makes up the first half of this book)

It s so full of left-field, retard nonsense, that it almost can t help but charm your pants down to your ankles. --Marc Mason - Movie Poopshoot.com

"There are just creators who deserve your money, and who will give you wonderful (though perhaps not obvious) comics in return. Gene Yang is one of those creators, check out his work." --Christopher Butcher - Comics 212

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ SLG Publishing (October 23, 2012)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 216 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1593621833
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1593621834
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 13 - 16 years
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.4 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 10 ratings

About the author

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Gene Luen Yang

Gene Luen Yang

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Gene Luen Yang writes, and sometimes draws, comic books and graphic novels. As the Library of Congress’ fifth National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, he advocates for the importance of reading, especially reading diversely. American Born Chinese, his first graphic novel from First Second Books, was a National Book Award finalist, as well as the winner of the Printz Award and an Eisner Award. His two-volume graphic novel Boxers & Saints won the L.A. Times Book Prize and was a National Book Award Finalist. His other works include Secret Coders (with Mike Holmes), The Shadow Hero (with Sonny Liew), Superman from DC Comics (with various artists), and the Avatar: The Last Airbender series from Dark Horse Comics (with Gurihiru). In 2016, he was named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow. His most recent books are Dragon Hoops from First Second Books and Superman Smashes the Klan from DC Comics.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
10 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Marvant Duhon
5.0 out of 5 stars Lightweight fun reading that's well worth re-reading
Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2013
Verified Purchase
Excellent lightweight fun reading, but with some deeper meaning and well worth re-reading. Quite like other works of his prior to the more serious "Saints and Boxers". I've read all Yang's published work and have liked them.
2 people found this helpful
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Richard
5.0 out of 5 stars I love it But...
Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2015
Verified Purchase
As Derek Kirk Kim comments, that's magical! I love this book.But what confuses me a little bit is that the book I purchased is not paginated! Could it be a pirated book? !
One person found this helpful
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Lynn Le
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2016
Verified Purchase
Cute comic with full of entertaining lines and character, especially humor
One person found this helpful
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Joseph M. Reninger
5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful and interesting high school fantasy
Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2015
This collection of stories are the very first published works by Gene Luen Yang, who I first discovered when reading his great work on the Avatar graphic novels (and he's currently writing Superman for DC Comics). These stories are written and drawn by Yang in a clean, simple style.

The first story is about Gordon Yamamoto, a not very smart high school bully who probably wouldn't be a bully if he wasn't hanging out with the wrong friend. Things change when Gordon discovers a microdroid hiding in his nose. The droid sends Gordon on a voyage of discovery that doesn't leave his home town, but does show him a more human way of living. The story is very different and original. I don't want to spoil all the surprises in it, so I won't say more than I really enjoyed it as a fantasy story with deeper themes.

The second story is about Loyola Chin, a high school girl who has strange dreams based on what food she eats. She's at the same high school as Gordon but has a different adventure related to the creator of the microdroids. This story is also fantastic and surprising in a good way. It captures the angst of high school life, the challenge of living as a Christian (though it isn't preachy or didactic), and the fear and wonder of the world to come.

The book ends with a sketchbook of character designs and a "bonus feature" describing Yang's original creative process (which includes strong encouragement for people who think they'd like to tell stories in this format).
One person found this helpful
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Paul A. Spangler
5.0 out of 5 stars I'm impressed
Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2014
This was a quick read that I just finished. There is a lot of heart in his work and large amounts of creativity. I'm glad we get to understand a bit more about his journey as an artist at the end and his passion for creating comics. I love that he is a teacher and his works are finding a larger audience over time so that more may enjoy his stories.
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Liz W.
2.0 out of 5 stars Will Definitely Not Appeal to Mainstream Audiences
Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2010
***WARNING! Here there be spoilers!***

Yang presents a collection of interconnected stories that use food as a means to instigate the action in each piece. Unfortunately, these stories are just plain weird, not to mention more than a bit confusing. In "Gordon Yamamoto and the King of the Geeks," young Miles is angry that his abusive father has never shown him love. The mystical energy of this emotion somehow fuses with a box of his pal Gordon's animal crackers, resulting in a gang of terrifying animal cracker monsters that can only be defeated when Miles lets go of his long-suppressed rage. In "Loyola Chin and the San Peligran Order," a girl meets up with Saint Danger, the mysterious and attractive leader of the San Peligran Order, a group dedicated to weeding out the stupid and the weak in order to galvanize mankind's chances at survival against a future alien invasion. The thread that connects these two stories takes form in two subplots. The first details Gordon's crush on Loyola (they both attend the same high school), and a friend's attempt to coach him by encouraging him to try acting "cooler." The other subplot focuses on the San Peligran Order's attempts to measure Loyola's and Gordon's intelligences to determine whether or not they should be eradicated. How? The Order merely dispatches a series of microscopic robots, which access the brain by crawling inside the nasal passage. It is only by reading the graphic novel's introduction by Derek Kirk Kim that the entwining of these two stories even begins to make sense. Kim writes that here, "[Yang] engages [the reader] with everyday issues and struggles that concern all of us: forgiveness, conformity [to] social hierarchy, and tolerance." In the end, Loyola, Gordon, and Miles all make the right choices: Miles forgives his father for his brutality; Gordon choses to be true to himself; and Loyola, who passes the Order's test, refuses Saint Danger's promises of power and comfort, arguing that compassion towards the weak is greater than a human race with no weakness at all. These are nice messages, but since Yang takes the detour route to delivering them, he loses the reader halfway through. For good measure, he also throws in a separate story (sandwiched in between the "Gordon" and "Loyola" pieces) titled "Sammy the Baker and the M.A.C," about the consequences that occur when a baker decides to ignore his mentor's advice about sticking to old recipes, and instead begins experimenting with his own ideas. His culinary labors produce a batch of muffins that transform into rhinos and terrorize his unsuspecting customers. The most helpful (and welcome) of Yang's contributions to this collection, unfortunately, is his thoughtful "making of" feature. Here, he chronicles his own struggles at breaking into the publishing market, and lays out the steps of how to create a comic for those who wish to follow in his footsteps. That said, it's safe to say that ANIMAL CRACKERS will hold no appeal to mainstream readers whatsoever. The only readers I can think of to recommend this to would be those interested in Yang's previous (and better) work, AMERICAN BORN CHINESE.
3 people found this helpful
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Gigantic Shadows
5.0 out of 5 stars Animal Crackers: Yang on top of his form
Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2013
Here are some connected but quite independent comics by Gene Luen Yang. They are early works, but completely mature. Very much in the same vein as his "American Born Chinese", and less like his commercially successful Airbender series.
One person found this helpful
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BeenThere
5.0 out of 5 stars Don’t fall for the demon lover, Loyola!
Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2021
Verified Purchase
Wow! Mr. Yang understands the very real spiritual forces at work in a teen’s dreams and imagination. This should be more widely read.
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