American Born Chinese

I have already figured out that I don't particularly love graphic novels.  I recently read The Tempest in graphic novel form and was not a fan.  I assumed that because I didn't like The Tempest, I would not enjoy American Born Chinese also.  To my shock and surprise, American Born Chinese was a very enjoyable and enlightening read.  The book tells great stories about issues that students will face, especially in middle school.  Lots of great themes surface in the book including fitting in with peers and dealing with stereotypes in school.  This book could spark such great discussion among students about how to treat others and what's important in life.  For middle school students, it would be very beneficial as sometimes they need a little help with how to treat one another.

The illustrations go great with the story and the words were very easy to follow on the page.  It was quite a quick read which I think would hold true for middle school students as well.  I also think it would be a useful introduction to graphic novels...I consider it one for myself.  I was confused about one aspect of it.  Tze-Yo-Tzuh basically quoted Psalm 139 at one point, and some parts in particular seemed very symbolic of stories in the Bible.  I just could not ever decide though how religious of a text it really was though.  Like was the author trying to make a point with the incorporation of the Biblical references? I couldn't ever decide.  Any thoughts?