# Is "American Born Chinese" by Gene Luen Yang a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang (First Second, 2006) is identified by: First edition, First Second, 2006. US true first and the first graphic novel named a National Book Award finalist; it also won the Printz Award and an Eisner.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, First Second, 2006
- The trade issue was a paperback original (ISBN 978-1-59643-152-2), issued together with a scarce limited hardcover collector's state available mainly through comic shops and conventions
- Identify a first printing by the First Second imprint, the 2006 date, and a first-printing number line
- The hardcover state adds cloth-and-board binding with a black silk ribbon marker
- Correct publisher/imprint: First Second

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Gene Luen Yang |
| Publisher | First Second |
| Year | 2006 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Comic / graphic novel |
| Key point | First edition, First Second, 2006 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition, First Second, 2006. The trade issue was a paperback original (ISBN 978-1-59643-152-2), issued together with a scarce limited hardcover collector's state available mainly through comic shops and conventions. Identify a first printing by the First Second imprint, the 2006 date, and a first-printing number line. The hardcover state adds cloth-and-board binding with a black silk ribbon marker.

## Is this the true first?
US true first and the first graphic novel named a National Book Award finalist; it also won the Printz Award and an Eisner. The format of first issue was the trade paperback in 2006; a separate trade hardcover edition followed in 2007 and is a first-thus, not the original. The scarce 2006 limited hardcover is a premium state but not the standard trade format.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition recorded. The trap is treating the later 2007 hardcover as the first edition; verify the First Second imprint and the 2006 first printing.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *American Born Chinese* by Gene Luen Yang a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/american-born-chinese
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.