Award wining author Gene Yang visited the  Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, Central on July 9 and 10, 2008. He filled the Library’s auditorium for a discussion and slide show presentation about how and why he creates comics. Yang, who won the 2007 Michael L. Prinz Award for his graphic novel, American Born Chinese, talked about his family and upbringing. He told the audience that many of his stories are rooted in his heritage and experiences of growing up in California as a first generation American. His mom was a librarian who always told him stories from her homeland and encouraged him to read–even when his interests veered toward comic books and superheroes. Yang’s presentation was followed the next day with a workshop for area teens. Yang taught them about creating comics by defining what comics are, how to think like comic book creators, and how to create their own comics. It was a well-attended event and participants enjoyed meeting and learning from Yang.

Gene Yang, whose graphic novel, American Born Chinese, won the 2007 Michael L. Printz Award for young-adult literature, will present a talk on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 at 4:00 PM in the Central Library’s Mason O. Damon Auditorium. American Born Chinese, which tells the story of Jin Wang, a son of Chinese immigrants, who struggles to assimilate at a predominately white school after moving from San Francisco’s Chinatown to the suburbs, was named a 2006 finalist for the National Book Award in the young people’s literature category. This was the first graphic novel to be nominated for a National Book Award. The presentation is free and open to the public.