Level Up [Paperback]

Gene Luen Yang (Author), Thien Pham (Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: June 7, 2011

A New York Times Notable Children's Book (Young Adult) for 2011

 

Smackdown!

Video Games vs. Medical School!

Which will win the battle for our hero’s attention in Gene Luen Yang’s new graphic novel?

Dennis Ouyang lives in the shadow of his parents’ high expectations. They want him to go to med school and become a doctor. Dennis just wants to play video games—and he might actually be good enough to do it professionally.

But four adorable, bossy, and occasionally terrifying angels arrive just in time to lead Dennis back onto the straight and narrow: the path to gastroenterology. It’s all part of the plan, they tell him. But is it? This powerful piece of magical realism brings into sharp relief the conflict many teens face between pursuing their dreams and living their parents’.

Partnered with the deceptively simple, cute art of newcomer Thien Pham, Gene Yang has returned to the subject he revolutionized with American Born Chinese. Whimsical and serious by turns, Level Up is a new look at the tale that Yang has made his own: coming of age as an Asian American.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Yang, writer-artist of National Book Award finalist American Born Chinese, writes this magical-realist tale of Asian-American parental pressure and video-game escape, leaving the art to up-and-comer Pham. Dennis Ouyang struggles with the burden of his dead father's orders that he study hard, go to med school, and become a gastroenterologist. When Dennis, inspired by four mysterious angels, gives up his passion—video games—and buckles down to his studies, he befriends three fellow second-generation students and begins to make a place in med school. But a crisis in confidence reveals the true nature of his guardian angels, and the real source of his father's dreams for his only son. Pham's watercolors can be charming, but his primarily gray and brown palette gets visually monotonous; thankfully, his work increases in energy as the plot does. Yang's familiar story of immigrant striving and filial rebellion gets just enough juice from its connection to arcade culture. A bravura storytelling and visual twist near the end brings together the plot's several strands. A minor work from Yang, but a welcome introduction to Pham, whose own upcoming First Second graphic novel, Sumo, looks promising. (June)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

From the Author

How do you decide what to do with your life? This question took up much of my head space when I was in my late teens, and it's also the central question of this book. This is video games vs. med school- a tale inspired by my brother (a medical doctor) and illustrated by my brother-in-cartooning Thien Pham (not a medical doctor).

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: First Second (June 7, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596432357
• ISBN-13: 978-1596432352
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.5 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #81,382 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Laughing, laughing, laughing, oh shoot . . . I'm crying. June 12, 2011

By H. Johnson

Format:Paperback

Gene Yang once again delivers a fun story that sneaks up on you and breaks your heart. I don't know how he keeps doing it, but he does.

The story is fresh and funny, while still making you want to have a better relationship with your father and/or son.

The artwork by Thien Pham is fantastic. Understated, but still beautiful and confident.

I'm not a gamer, or male, or Asian-American, or a gastroenterologist, and I still found the characters engaging and lovable. It's the kind of book that made me think. Then made me smile.

It's a great feel-good book. I can't wait to read it again.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A surprisingly compelling Bildungsroman with video games June 30, 2011

By Neurasthenic VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

I expected a trite story about a boy growing up with video games, and Level Up starts as such, but quickly demonstrates itself to be more sophisticated than I had expected. The plot relates a young man's struggles in school and, to a lesser degree with girls, as he is powerfully distracted (seduced?) by games. Thematically, the book involves our obligations to our parents, and our children, and whether one can be happy following a path dictated by guilt.

The book has a major element of magical realism that involves the author's sense of obligation to his dead father manifested as greeting card angels who help him through school. The reader feels conflicted seeing them, knowing they are pushing him in a good direction, but that he may never be happy unless he pursues these ends for better reasons. This is ultimately resolved in a way that is natural, and yet surprising and quite moving.

Video games recur in the story, but ultimately this book is far greater than any book just about gaming could be.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling coming-of-age story July 7, 2011

By DJ Joe Sixpack HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

-------------------------------------------
"Level Up"
Written by Gene Luen Yang
Illustrated by Thien Pham
(First Second, 2011)
-------------------------------------------
Having established his graphic novel street cred with the powerful "American Born Chinese," Gene Luen Yang has emerged as one of the premiere comicbook artists of his generation. In this new story, Yang turns the illustrations over to Thien Pham, whose simple, zine-ish style may be off-putting for fans of Yang's sleeker, smooth-lined graphics, but the disappointment only lasts a second or two: one page into this fast-moving fictional memoir and you will be hooked. Yang and Thien Pham hit a perfect groove, and you'll find it hard to put this book down; it's a compelling, compulsive read.

The story revolves around Dennis Ouyang, an Asian-American kid who discovers his life's calling the first time he sees a video game. At least *he* thinks it's his life's calling: his parents are horrified to see him wasting his time, and unflinchingly push him to excel academically. Dennis rebels against this classic, hard-working immigrant narrative and subsumes himself in video games, but the story takes an abrupt twist when he abandons his slacker-geek lifestyle for some unexpected reasons. The book uses the comicbook format to its fullest potential, disarming readers with deceptive simplicity, while sliding through time and reality with the sort of ease that only this medium can produce. The "Asian-ness" of the story is underplayed: it's there, but not explicitly delved into -- anyone with pushy, loving parents can identify with Dennis and his dilemma. This is a subtle but strange, surprisingly mature story, a quick read and definitely recommended! (Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain book reviews)