Horn Book (Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2014)

Color by Lark Pien. Yang presents a "diptych" of graphic novels set during China's Boxer Rebellion. Boxers follows Little Bao, who learns to harness the power of ancient gods to fight the spread of Christianity; Saints centers on Four-Girl, who sits squarely on the other side of the rebellion. Yang's characteristic infusions of magical realism, bursts of humor, and distinctively drawn characters make for a compelling read.

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

In the companion to Boxers, Yang shifts focus to Four-Girl, a mistreated Chinese girl who decides to become a Christian despite the heavy cultural stigma it carries. Although her initial reason for converting is misguided (she-s mainly a fan of the snacks she receives), she eventually embraces the religion and, inspired by visions of Joan of Arc, is spurred to become a -maiden warrior- for God. To prove her faith, Four-Girl (newly christened Vibiana) charges herself with defending Peking, which has become a refuge for foreigners and Christians from the approaching Society of the Righteous and Harmonious Fist. As in Boxers, the climactic battle is brutal; established characters meet their demises quickly and unceremoniously. Read separately, the books are honest and revealing character studies of two differing Chinese perspectives during the Boxer Rebellion. Together, they resonate electrically, partly due to their mirrored plots, but more so for capturing the historical context and dueling psychologies (the group vs. the self, national pride vs. spiritual pride) that underlie this political and cultural conflict. Ages 12-up. Agent: Judith Hansen, Hansen Literary Agency. (Sept.)

Starred Review ALA Booklist (Thu Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2013)

Starred Review In American Born Chinese (2006), Yang spoke to the culture clash of Chinese American teen life. In Saints e concluding volume in a two-book set beginning with Boxers (2013) out the Boxer Rebellion at the end of the nineteenth century in China, he looses twin voices in harmony and dissonance from opposite sides of the bloody conflict. Saints follows Four-Girl, an outcast in her own family, who embraces the Christian faith spreading through her country and places herself in the dangerous path of the Boxers. Between the two books, Yang ties tangled knots of empathy where the heroes of one become the monsters of the other. Four-Girl and her foil in Boxers, Little Bao, are drawn by the same fundamental impulses r community, family, faith, tradition, purpose d their stories reflect the inner torture that comes when those things are threatened. Yang is in superb form here, arranging numerous touch points of ideological complexity and deeply plumbing his characters' points of view. And in an homage to the driving power of stories themselves, Four-Girl is captivated by a vision sprung from lore: a young Frenchwoman clad in golden armor, Joan of Arc. Much blood is spilled as Four-Girl marches toward her grim fate, which is even more unsettling given that Yang hasn't fundamentally altered his squeaky clean, cartoonishly approachable visual style. A poignant, powerhouse work of historical fiction from one of our finest graphic storytellers.