Kung Fu High School [Paperback]

This is a very graphic novel, in both language and violence. Martin Luther King High School is not for the faint of heart, or, as the students call it King Joony or King Joo. "Asian, Latin European, African, Indian and every other American thing in between" contribute to the mix of students. But all of them are the color of poor, any logos that make you a target taped over or torn out. Everybody has an angle, even Principal Dermoody, who makes kickbacks to Ridley, a fifth year senior and drug lord planning a school takeover. When Jimmy Chang comes to MLK High School, he changes all that in a plot that becomes increasingly confrontational.

There is a survival list for students: get kicked in (unavoidable), don't complain, join a family, stay loyal and learn how to sew (to add Kevlar and other types of body armor worn to school for protection). This Brave New World scenario is a cross between superhero comics and a video game, saturated with brutality and vivid descriptions of injuries sustained. Jimmy Chang, known for his martial arts skills, at first refuses to engage, but is drawn into battle to protect his cousin. Jimmy thought he had seen the last of fighting, but he steps up to protect his cousin and the family.

Although the excessive violence and everyday battle for survival becomes a parody of guerilla warfare, the message is clear, a society defined by tribes that rule by force. These kids endure their high school years, one day at a time. The protagonist, Jimmy Chang's fifteen-year old cousin, has been hardened to this life of constant menace, armor-lined clothing, martial arts training, the conditions at MLK fast reaching a boiling point. Finally, there is a massive and bloody showdown, bodies flying, broken and bleeding. Only Jimmy, with his superior fighting skills can save the day, an exercise that results in a virtual Armageddon.

This is civilization at its most primitive, where everyone is diminished by the violence, which is so over the top that it becomes a caricature, a Tarentino-esque drama of flying arms and legs, a teen Kill Bill. Young adult readers will either be horrified or excited by the non-stop action, as mesmerizing as a video game that takes out the players one by one. Gattis never romances the truth, each page like a fist in the face, drawing blood. The problem is desensitization. Does this violence dull the senses, rationalizing a way of life, or does overkill prove the stupidity and hopelessness of such a world. Filled with graphic violence, death and despair, the author never romances the truth, but the martial arts scenes do read "cool", maybe too cool. Parental oversight is needed to determine whether this book is appropriate reading for their young adult. Luan Gaines.2005.

This ultraviolent parody of a high-school novel takes place at an urban school riddled with gangs and ninjas.

Half martial arts thriller and half The Wire, Kung Fu High School tries to tell a serious story with a very silly premise. It fails when it tries to up the emotional stakes, but succeeds in describing the slightly-melodramatic, action-packed 'everyday' life at the school.

Although not as affecting as it wants to be, this is still a fun book with a wild premise and a punchy, cinematic ending.

First time author Gattis has taken every parent and teenager's worst fears about high school to their dystopian extreme in this explosion of exploitation ultraviolence. The combination of Columbine massacre, and films like Battle Royale, Boyz in the Hood, Bloodsport, and every Hong Kong chop-socky flick ever, would make for hilariously campy fun were it not for the relentlessly grim tone and absolutely brutal violence. Unlike most teen violence films, where the carnage is distanced through the use of guns, knives, and other tools, here the violence is almost entirely fists and feet, and the ultrarealistic effect of every single blow is detailed in almost fetishistic detail.

The dehumanized teenagers of Martin Luther King High School have no dream other than surviving from one day to the next. The kids are a complete ethnic stew, whose only common feature is that they are too poor to escape being sent to MLK. Each belongs to one of six families (gangs), no one goes anywhere without a family member watching their back, and everyone is constantly trying to improve their martial arts skills. Going to school is an exercise in vigilance, as these kids literally dress for battle and everyone wears plain, all black clothing in order to disguise their affiliation from outsiders. Their school is run by Ridley, an eighth-year senior drug lord who controls four of the six families and has the school administration and teachers in his pockets.

The story is narrated by Jen, a sophomore whose brother is the leader of the "Waves", and whose cousin Jimmy is a world-renown grandmaster who has just returned from living in Kong Kong. His arrival coincides with Ridley's move to absorb the other two families and assume ultimate control, enabling him to expand his operation. Jimmy is a kind of classic martial arts character, the heroic good guy who has pledged never to fight again -- but of course, is forced to by the Darwinian world around him. Most of the book is a kind of slow burn of escalating violence leading to an inevitable massive bloodbath at the end. There are some other little glimpses into Jen's seeded throughout, her heartache for her dead mother, her attempts to deal with her invalid father, her forbidden yearning for Jimmy, and friendship with the cool free clinic doctor who patches up the family after their various fights. But these are all rather thinly done, and are mere background to the showdown with Ridley.

There's a lot of nice detail sprinkled throughout, such as the specifics of how to sew unobtrusive body armor into your everyday clothing, how to make four-edged knives, and so on. Much of this is illustrated through nifty rough diagrams and drawings inserted amidst the text. The most striking stylistic element of the book, however, is Gattis' ability to describe martial arts combat. You don't need to be a practitioner to follow the various moves as the bodies fly, skin is shredded, and bones break. It's all vividly done to well past the point of excess. It could easily be argued that all this graphic detail serves a raw, cautionary function, or one could just as easily argue that it desensitizes the reader. Either way, it'd be hard to argue that the scenes involving Jimmy aren't pretty cool, as he balletically devastates his teen opponents one after the other in the climax. Ultimately, the book doesn't leave the reader with much -- it's more of a concept with a thin thin story than a really engrossing tale. It the kind of material could make an excellent film in the right hands, but it could also make a really horrible film in the wrong ones.

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