I liked the saints one better because it was from the Christian point of view. Don't want to read them again but it was quick and easy to read this grafic novel.

Centered around the experiences of a Chinese peasant boy whose village has been plundered and abused by Westerners, Boxers combines historical fiction with magical realism to tell the violent story of China's struggle against colonialism around the year 1900. It is Gene Luen Yang's first graphic novel to be set in China, though it deals with themes that have always dominated Yang's writing: the relationship between Chinese and Western culture, religion, the supernatural, youth, identity formatio...

Historical-fiction and comics? Sing me the hell up! Myth and legend alongside Christian and polytheistic religion? Sign me the hell hell up! Well, I was signed up, and ended up with tears down my face and a closed fist hitting my pillow out of anger.Boxers and Saints are two volumes based at the time of the Boxer Rebellion, an anti-imperialistic uprising from 1899 and lasting until 1901. It is told through the eyes of Little Bao, a teen with a desire for a free China from the imperialistic main

Boxers is the first of a two-part graphic personal history of China's Boxer Rebellion. This story centers on Little Bao, the youngest brother who rises up to become the leader of a rebel group trying to take back China from "foreign devils" (Europeans and Christian missionaries). Little Bao loves opera and mythology, and also secretly begins learning kung fu with a special teacher/mentor. Bao is a natural leader, and after a series of experiences, he finds his place as leader of the homegrown mi...

I LOVE this art style! Combining historical fiction and magical realism done perfectly.

After enduring a number of harsh setbacks including war and natural disaster, Chinese peasants in the late 19th century began an anti-colonial, anti-Christian uprising that grew and became known as the Boxer Rebellion (the Chinese militia practiced Chinese martial arts like kung fu which was known at the time as “Chinese boxing”, hence why they were referred to as “Boxers”). Gene Luen Yang captures the broad strokes of the historical event, from the Boxers’ perspective, in this book. Yang’s comi...

I don’t know what I was expecting when I first started reading Boxers, but it certainly wasn’t a war. That may give you pause, but I went into this one blind. I didn’t read the synopsis and had only seen a few of the illustrations at the BEA last year before deciding I wanted to read it. Overall, it was eye-opening and violent. I enjoyed the way Yang told a historical story with fantasy elements and was impressed with the amount of detail. I also liked how religion itself was handled. It plays a...

How Gene Luen Yang approached this subject is amazing and I give him so much credit as an author and creator. I have read so very few historical graphic novels and it was so refreshing to see Yang paint a historical event, The Boxer Rebellion, in a more character and motivational driven light. To be fair, I knew very little about the Boxer Rebellion prior to my reading Boxers & Saints, but after a bit of research motivated by the author's books I found that Yang's books are both entirely accurat...

I read this because my daughter recommended it. She's a lifelong comics fanatic, and a fine creator to boot. I always trust her taste.Boxers is a graphic novel in that rare but important and burgeoning subgenre, the historical graphic novel. Its topic is the 1900 Chinese uprising against European and American colonialism, known in the west as the Boxer Rebellion. The narrative focuses on a young peasant man as he grows up in a village, gets radicalized, discovers local militias and secret societ...

A #GetGraphic read—Unapologetically brutal and a great portrayal of how ethical lines become blurred during wartime. Why did I let this sit on my shelf for years before finally reading it?

After having read and loved beyond words Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese, I was more than excited about picking up his other works. But upon sitting down to write this review, I found that I hadn't that many positive things to discuss like I did with the author's previous work.Set in China, 1898, Boxers follows bands of foreign missionaries and soldiers as they roam the countryside, bullying and robbing Chinese peasants. Little Bao has had enough. Harnessing the powers of ancient C

I've got to be honest: my favorite panel of this entire book is one of the ones from the beginning -- where Little Bao imagines marrying Vibiana (the opera-masked girl) and having lots of opera-masked sons.I think it is adorable! And also hilarious.

Ignore the sociopaths that flock to the cause, and the brutal men that feel it is their calling to do violence no matter the time or cause and ask yourself: Why do men commit such atrocities as they do, time and again? This book answers, surprisingly well, that question. The story of Little Bao follows him from a child determined to do right in the world, a commitment to justice and peace, and we see how this path logically, and horrifically, leads him to locking a group of women and children in...

The 'mirror' book to Saints; Little Bao loves the Chinese opera - he wants to do heroic deeds like the characters he has grown up watching. When the 'foreign devils' start to bully the people in his village he decides to join the growing Boxer Rebellion. After learning how to become 'possessed' by the gods of China he joins a group of young village boys/men who want to rid China of both 'foreign devils' and 'secondary devils' - Chinese who have converted to Christianity. The boys become avatars

At times funny, at other times heart-breaking, but always wonderful. I had never even heard of the Boxer Rebellion until it came up in a Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode when I was in my 20's. It's a part of history that we just don't talk about in America (I guess because it was a war we didn't fight), and don't know much about. This is an interesting look at one side of it, and there's a companion book, SAINTS, that covers the other side of this conflict between the newly baptized Christians a...

So this is the first of a two volume set about the Boxer Rebellion for children/tweens/YA, probably YA, by the Printz-award-winning author of American Born Chinese, which is now justly a staple in schools. He also did (is doing?) the Avatar: The Last Airbender series, so he's known for that, too, but this is his next Big Book, though it's also a two book deal, where you get to see the historical war through the eyes of a young boy, in Boxers, and a young girl, in Saints, two kids who see each ot...

After reading gobs of praise for this, I broke down and ordered a copy for kindle rather than wait until my next visit to the US to pick up a paper copy, and I am delighted that I was not disappointed. While it is not perfect in every detail (subtlety is sometimes lacking), this graphic novel is saturated with something I can only call resonance. One feels there is something behind this book, compelling it into existence. This quality is most apparent in the way Yang depicts the mystical experie...

I'm so impressed that this author was able to take a dreadful time in China's history and make it absorbing and accessible to everyone else with the two books that explain this time period from different viewpoints. Some of the humor was more 21st than 19th century but I imagine that this might appeal to a younger audience, hooking them into wanting to learn more about the Boxer Rebellion.And I really appreciated how he demonstrated that war based on cultural differences coming from misunderstan...

I knew next to nothing about the Boxer Rebellion before I read this. It makes more sense now. I can see why it would feel like your country has been invaded. It was and they were treated very well. Interesting that farmers were trained as fighters. I love the Chinese Opera that Little Bao loves. We have that in common. I love that they become mythic figures from the past when they fight. It is lovely. I think the art is great and the culture is represented well from what I can tell. I am a fan o...

After teaching American Born Chinese for several years, I finally decided my (then) nine-year-old could handle it last fall. She loved it, so when Gene Luen Yang came to our local library, we had to pay him a visit. Unbelievably, we got there before anyone else and snagged a front row seat. Mr. Yang was already there and held a wonderful conversation with my daughter. He is truly an incredibly nice man and obviously a father of young children.Because he made such a great impression on her, my da...