- When I started making comics it was the mid-90s

and at that point the comic book industry

and the book industry were largely

these two separate entities

with their own distribution systems

and their own sets of stores.

And as a cartoonist coming up in that kind of environment

you don't think about things like

National Ambassador for Young People's Literature.

We were still fighting to get people to recognize

comics and graphic novels as literature.

And now, twenty years later, things have just gone 180.

I think it's amazing.

Every ambassador picks something

that they want to talk about.

For me, my platform is Reading Without Walls.

Reading Without Walls is about how books

can help us bridge to places that we may be uncomfortable.

I really want to encourage kids

to read outside of their comfort zone.

(upbeat piano music)

I grew up reading superhero comics.

I started collecting superhero comics

when I was in 5th grade.

And to get to work on Superman, who is the first superhero.

He's the character that set the tone for the entire genre.

That established the genre.

It's just been a phenomenal experience.

The thing that resonates with me about Superman

is the fact that he is an immigrant.

So, Superman isn't just the prototypical superhero,

he is also the prototypical immigrant.

He came from another culture.

A lot of the pathos behind that character

is that he loves America,

but he still longs for this home that he barely knows.

And I think, as the child of an immigrant myself,

that that really resonates with me as well.

(inspirational piano music)

One of the most gratifying responses

that I get from American Born Chinese

is children of immigrants,

regardless of where their parents are from,

coming up to me and telling me

that they resonated with that book.

That even though we have two different cultural backgrounds,

they felt a lot of those same emotional realities.

And I think that is more than an author can ask for, right?

Somebody reading your work thoughtfully

and resonating with them.

(lively piano music)

I was part of the online program.

I did my Master's in education

with an emphasis on online teaching & learning.

I graduated in 2003 and when I graduated,

I felt like I learned a ton.

That program, at the time especially,

was cutting edge.

There really was nothing else like it

and I felt like what I did in that program

really informs what I do today.

For instance, the final project that I did in that program

was actually on comics and education.

I did some research

on how comics have been used in education.

The concepts that I learned there

I'm still using today.

Especially since I'm actually now teaching online

through Hamlet.

My name is Gene Luen Yang.

I am a graphic novelist

and I'm a pioneer.

(inspirational music)