Review of the Day: We Are Definitely Human by X. Fang

We Are Definitely Human
By X. Fang
Tundra Books
$18.99
ISBN: 9781774882023
On shelves August 6, 2024

Small town America makes an interesting showing in children’s picture books. Generally by the time you get to novels for kids such places can start to show signs of, say, Main Street by Sinclair Lewis. Picture books, on the other hand, tend to retain their fondness for such places. Historically, though, what children’s picture books tended to ignore was the diversity of those small towns. I was recently in a town of 700 people (shout out to Burr Oak, Michigan) and was floored by the ethnic and cultural diversity I witnessed while there. You don’t see a lot of that in the press around small towns, though, and you certainly don’t hear about them being all that open to outsiders. That might be justified at times, but it’s such a familiar trope that when you read a book like We Are Definitely Human you come into it knowing that part of the humor of the book is going to be based on the reactions of the small town humans. But rather than slip into the old stereotypes, X. Fang presents a rather caring, incredibly funny, and dare I say touching tribute to culture clashes in the best way. This is a book that tips its hat to kindness in the face of uncertainty. A lesson the 21st century is sorely in need of, that’s for sure.

When a trio of strangers crashes in the yard of Mr. and Mrs. Li in the country, it’s Mr. Li who goes to investigate. What he finds are three strangers. “Their eyes were very big, their skin was very blue, and their shape was very hard to describe.” After informing him in no uncertain terms that they are DEFINITELY human, he invites them in for the night. The next day, quizzed on their home, they say that they are from Europe (which explains a fair amount). They get supplies to fix their “vehicle” from the general store, where a whole host of other nice humans come along to help. All told, a sweet story of what happens sometimes when someone needs help, no matter who they might be.

X. Fang came onto the picture book scene in 2023 with the highly successful Dim Sum Palace. Coming off as nothing so much as a tribute to both In the Night Kitchen and tales of giant food (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, perhaps), the book’s presentation of baos, dumplings, buns, and other delicious munchables firmly established Fang as an author/illustrator to watch. It was also, and this is no small thing, funny. That she would pivot in her next book and take on aliens from outer space makes a certain amount of sense. Of course, in We Are Definitely Human, Fang is not making any particular direct references to previous works of children’s literature this time around. Instead the book comes off as both a loving tribute to and gentle teasing off rural communities. What sets Fang apart from other author/illustrators, though, is how good she is at sustaining a joke throughout the course of a picture book’s storyline. The aliens in this book are bad at pretending to be human. When questioned about their jobs they might say, “I make business,” or “I play sportsball”, or (worst of all) “I wear hat.” And the joke throughout the book seems to be on the gullible humans who are swallowing these terrible lines. It’s only when you get to the end of the story that you get the feeling that the humans were probably just humoring the aliens all along. It’s a sharp turnaround. One you don’t expect to find in a book of this sort.

I was in Europe, actually, a couple years ago at the Bologna Book Festival. Imagine a festival dedicated entirely to international children’s literature. Full of insightful talks, books, and representatives from different countries, there were also multiple art exhibits. One in particular paid homage to the relatively new trend (perhaps due to modern printing techniques) of what they called “Fluorescent Picture Books”. On display was a wide range of titles, each utilizing bright pink or yellow or green or orange colors, for one reason or another. Think Beatrice Alemagna, Shawn Harris, and the other folks willing to experiment with colors that shock and awe. In an interview later, Alemagna mentioned that it is an act of bravery for an artist to use fluorescent colors. Not only is it bold, but it demands that the readers’ eye be drawn to the action on the page. In We Are Definitely Human, X. Fang’s use of a certain shade of hot pink is not only striking but cleverly done. First, you can see it in the outfits of the strangers and their ship. But just after you get past the cover you are hit in the eyeball sockets with endpapers so glaringly pink they’d make Tylenol itself blush. Now read through the book carefully. Notice how the only time you ever see this color is when it appears on the aliens. Hot pink is what separates them physically from the humans around them. Everything else in the book tends towards natural colors and hues. It’s a clever juxtaposition to separate the outsiders from the insiders.

The general attitude that the children’s book publishing world has is that science fiction doesn’t sell well. Yet this year alone we have seen this incredible swath of children’s picture books about space aliens. From Randy Cecil’s, The Spaceman to One Giant Leap by Thao Lam to The First Week of School by Drew Beckmeyer, Dalmartian by Lucy Ruth Cummins, and even the jaw-dropping Astro by Manuel Marsol, perhaps publishers are turning around on the whole science fiction thing (or, more likely, they just don’t think it applies to picture books). But space has always been just a great big metaphor hanging over our heads, hasn’t it? It’s a marvelous way to tell a bigger story than just the one on the page. That goes double for We Are Definitely Human. At its heart, what this book is truly about is kind humans helping outsiders. That, for Americans, should seem as natural as apple pie, but in our current state of paranoia and suspicion, such a message can feel downright radical. Radical too are Mr. and Mrs. Li who sport Asian names and features and speak with Southern accents. It’s a common enough occurrence in real life that it really shouldn’t strike you as novel in a book, but of course until folks like X. Fang come along, we just don’t SEE that kind of representation on our storybook pages. Rereading the book a second or third time, I came to realize just how pernicious the Lis’ kindness is. They open their hearts and doors to these strange “European” strangers, and it’s not just them. The whole TOWN joins in in helping as well. Honestly, the most cynical and suspicious characters in this book are the dogs. Mr. Li’s dog in particular is giving some impressive side-eye to the visitors, never letting them out of its sight.

Years ago my husband and I were living in Minneapolis and he was part of the independent film scene. That meant going to see a lot of your fellow students’ film in film festivals, for good or for ill. Most of those films blend together, but one stands out in my mind. It was a pastiche of various 1950s aliens-infiltrating-earth plotlines and contained a singular joke that my family quotes even to this day, “Us? Aliens? Is this one of your earth jokes?” That vibe is alive and well at the heart of We Are Definitely Human. The kids are going to come here for the kooky aliens, but the whole reason the book works is because at its core this is a picture book about a kind of kindness we should all strive for in our lives. The kind that comes to mind when someone has nothing and needs a little bit of help to get by. That’s a pretty deep sentiment for a silly book about space creatures, but definitely give We Are Definitely Human more than one read. It can only do good in this world.

On shelves August 6th.

Source: Final copy sent from publisher for review.

Interviews: Be so good as to check out this interview with X. Fang about the book on the 100 Scope Notes blog when you’ve a chance.

Filed under: Best Books, Best Books of 2024, Review 2024, Reviews