Boxers & Saints by Gene Luen Yang

Gene Luen Yang is famous for writing the graphic novel American Born Chinese which was the first graphic novel ever nominated for a National Book Award. Yang is currently serving as the 5th ever ambassador for young people's literature (a Library of Congress designation).

Boxers is about the the Boxer Rebellion in China (1898) which happened when swarms of foreign missionaries and soldiers basically took over China and bullied chinese peasants. Little Bao watches the missionaries and chinese converts basically destroy his family and harass his village.

Bao joins, and eventually leads, a group of kung fu trained peasants who march on Peking. In terms of the story, the peasants are actually possessed by various chinese deities. While strange, it does a good job of emphasizing the conflict between two very different cultures. Yang does a good job of showing the desperation and outrage of the chinese citizenry as well as the unbelieveable rumors going around the demonized the white missionaries.

It's a bit of a downer and the fantastical elements are sometimes very jarring. However, it's also quite good.

The plot line of Saints overlaps with the story of Boxers. Vibiana, born as Four-Girl, was the unwanted girl child in a large family. She didn't even have a proper name and, while not actually abusive, she wasn't nurtured or feel loved. In fact, she is often called a demon and even comes to believe and embrace her "demon" nature

At least not until she encounters Christianity. What starts out as a way to escape her family and snag free cookies soon becomes a full conversion of faith. However, Vibiana soon discovers the flaws in her adopted faith/culture.

In many ways, Yang depicts the missionaries as sympathetic but flawed people. It's never as simple as good vs. evil and Yang conveys that.