Level Up

Summary: Statistics have shown that college students change their major at least 3 times over their college career, which means that people are often uncertain about their future and, in many respects, uncertain about who they are. Gene Luen Yang's graphic novel is about a young man, Dennis Ouyang, who has a difficult time deciding where his passions and future truly lie.  His family pushes him into medicine, but he finds a passion for video games. Unfortunately, his addiction to video games gets Dennis kicked out of college and uncertain of his future. Then one day Dennis is visited by four "guilt-driven hallucinations" who help him get back into college and back on a medical career path.  Once he is back on track, everything should be fine and dandy, right? Well, what we find out is that things aren't okay because Dennis struggles in school again and surprisingly discovers that he can actually making a living playing video games. Is this what finally makes Dennis happy? Are video games his true calling? Or do his guilt-driven hallucinations force him back into medicine?

Reference: Gene Luen Yang (2011). Level Up. First Second. New York, NY.

Why I Picked It Up: After reading American Born Chinese, I became a big Gene Luen Yang fan, so I wanted to read as many of his books that I could.  I've enjoyed his storytelling and, as a minority, I found that I could identify with his characters, as well.

Why I Finished It: Once again, Gene didn't disappoint. I was able to identify with Dennis, since I too struggled in college to find my own identity.  I couldn't decide what I wanted to do as a career, so I kind of drifted from one field of study to another, much like Dennis. Gene's story telling kept me interested in Dennis' life, leaving me wanting to know what he would decide. Then when it came to Dennis' final decision (no spoilers!) I was actually surprised, though admittedly it was quite logical. Thien Pham's illustrations are a great compliment to Gene's story; they were elegantly simplistic which made the novel easy to follow and understand.

Recommendation: This story would be good for high school seniors or college students who are struggling to decide what they want to do with their lives. Even though the answers may not arrive as the way Dennis' did, we inevitably find our niche.  Plus, we needn't be afraid of changing our minds despite the passage of time. Basically, if something doesn't fit, don't force it. Gene Luen Yang's books are always a fit for the living room sofa and Level Up is no different.