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Title: Dragonwings: 25th Anniversary Edition by Laurence Yep, Wong B.D. ISBN: 0-694-52561-8 Publisher: HarperAudio Pub. Date: 01 August, 2001 Format: Audio Cassette Volumes: 6 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.67 (66 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: I want to get away, I want to fly away
Comment: No one melds fact and myth into seamless storylines of historical fiction quite like Lawrence Yep. Like many of his tales, the remarkable, "Dragonwings", reflects on the Chinese experience in America. Says Yep in his author's note, "I have tried to make some of these dry historical facts become living experiences". The result is a book that certain kids will grow attached to and respect. Admittedly, it is not a book for all children, but for what it offers it is an impressive work.
The plot follows Moon Shadow, a boy sent from his native China to live with his father in the Land of the Gold Mountains a.k.a San Francisco in 1903. While there, Moon Shadow learns a great deal about the ways the white settlers (referred to in this text, without exception, as demons) reacted to the Chinese in California. Yep does not play down the characters' difficulties, but Moon Shadow and his father, Windrider, learn the ways in which they may live their lives acceptably. They befriend their white employers, survive the great San Francisco earthquake, and finally Windrider follows his dream of making a flying machine just as the Wright Brothers did. This portion of the book is based on the true story of a Chinese immigrant that on September 22, 1909 flew from the hills of Oakland, California. As Yep points out in his author's note, this book is a historical fantasy and not an actual factual construction. Nonetheless, Windrider's quest is such that you feel just as caught up in the excitement of the moment as he is when at last he is able to test his creation.
What is so impressive about Lawrence Yep's writing is how he accepts that there are no hard and fast rules about the ways in which people act and react. The Chinese are constantly set upon by the white majority, yet there are good Tang people and bad Tang people just as there are good whites and bad whites. The sentence that really drilled this home for me was one referring to a white female friend Moon Shadow and his father made the acquaintance of. Miss Whitlaw befriends our heroes, as well as the patriarch of their company, referred to mostly as "Uncle". The section I love reads, "I won't say that Miss Whitlaw and Uncle became the best of friends, but they came to like each other as much as two such difference people could". To me, this is an eloquent description of how two people from remarkably different backgrounds can become close without ever reaching the closeness that comes from being with someone like yourself.
So here's the real test of this book; Do kids actually like reading it? Published originally in 1975, I remember hearing about this story when I was in elementary school. And, admittedly, I never so much as picked it up. For those kids that do glance through it, or are assigned it in school, what is their reaction? Honestly, I thought the book began rather slowly. Yep is introducing his subject honestly and with tact and feeling, all of which make the beginning a small slog for the average child reader. Those kids that stick with it, however, will find fights, natural disasters, and attempted throat slittings galore. To my mind, Yep's "Child of the Owl" is a lot more kid friendly than the well-written but ultimately measured "Dragonwings". So if I were to give a child I knew a good, if more contemporary, book reflecting the experiences of Chinese-Americans, I'd probably offer them the former. None of this is to say that there aren't children out there that consider "Dragonwings" to be their favorite book ever. I just suspect they are a minority.
In the end, "Dragonwings" has won more awards and garnered more praise than I think Lawrence Yep could have ever hoped for. It is a fine noble creation and well deserves the attention it has received. Whether kids will ever willingly open its pages is open to debate, but it is definitely a fascinating look into the lives of a people that could well have remained unknown but for the superb prose and experienced writing of one of the finest American writers of our day and age.
Rating: 4
Summary: Dragonwings
Comment: Dragonwings
By Laurence Yep
Moon Shadow is eight years old when he sails from the Tang people's village in China, to America. Seeking his Father, someone who he has never met before. Un-expectantly, he finds his father among a group of Tang people at the shores of Angel Island. His father, Windrider, earns a living doing laundry for wealthy people in large estates all over San Francisco, California. Dragonwings was nominated for a Newbery award, but didn't win it.
In 1903, the immigrants came to the U.S. seeking better jobs with better pay. But the way Laurence Yep explained it from Moon Shadow's eyes; the Americans were 'demons' and 'demonesses.' Which was only true to them because they came at a bad time, when these Americans were not used to all these religions and cultures coming all at once. So they were prejudice with each other, as well as scared. The only nice 'demons' that they ever met were Mrs. Whitlaw and her niece.
It's really a book with just about everything in it, so you really must read Dragonwings.
Rating: 5
Summary: Dragon Wings
Comment: This book is about a white boy who learns to fly kites using a stick and a paper. HE learns thet white people are the best and christians are not bad.
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Title: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor ISBN: 014034893X Publisher: Puffin Pub. Date: October, 1991 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Dragon's Gate (Golden Mountain Chronicles, 1867) by Laurence Yep ISBN: 0064404897 Publisher: HarperTrophy Pub. Date: 30 May, 1995 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli ISBN: 0316809063 Publisher: Little Brown & Company Pub. Date: 01 November, 1999 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Giver by LOIS LOWRY ISBN: 0440237688 Publisher: Laure Leaf Pub. Date: 10 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $6.50 |
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Title: A Guide for Using Dragonwings in the Classroom by Mari L. Robbins, Keith Vasconcelles ISBN: 1557344299 Publisher: Teacher Created Materials Pub. Date: 01 January, 1993 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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