Dragon's Gate (Golden Mountain Chronicles) [Hardcover]

Laurence Yep (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up | Series: Golden Mountain Chronicles

'In rural China in 1865, 14-year-old Otter eagerly sails to California to join his father and legendary uncle on the transcontinental railroad. On a freezing, snow-filled mountain in the Sierras, Otter begins his harrowing journey toward self-knowledge. An engaging survival-adventure story, a social history, a heroic quest.'--BL. 'Told with humanity and compassion... a tribute to the survival and courage of these immigrants.'--1994 Newbery Committee. 1994 Newbery Honor Book Notable Children's Books of 1994 (ALA) 1994 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library) 1993 "Pick of the Lists" (ABA) 1994 John and Patricia Beatty Award (California Library Association) 1994 Silver Medal for Literature (Commonwealth Club of America)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This 1994 Newbery Honor Book, a prequel to Dragonwings, tells of 14-year-old Otter's 1865 emigration from China and subsequent travails in California. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-10-Yep uses the lively storytelling techniques of his "Dragon" fantasy-adventure novels to re-create a stirring historical event-here, the construction of the transcontinental railroad. Serpent's Children (1984) and Mountain Light (1985, both HarperCollins) described the political and natural disasters that led to widespread famine in 19th-century Southern China. Cassia and Foxfire, the "Serpent's Children," came from a long line of revolutionaries. Foxfire followed his dreams across the sea to the "Golden Mountain," California, where he earned enough money to revitalize his village. Dragon's Gate opens in China with Foxfire making a triumphant visit home. Otter, Cassia's adopted son, who tells the story, worships his uncle and longs to follow him back to the Golden Mountain. Granted his wish at last, Otter finds Foxfire working on "Snow Tiger," a mountain in the Sierra Nevada range, where Chinese laborers strive to hew a tunnel through solid rock. Appalled by the living conditions and disillusioned with his uncle, Otter must struggle to survive racial prejudice, cold, starvation, the foreman's whip, and the dangers of frostbite and avalanche while trying to reconcile his ideals and dreams with harsh reality, and to find his place in a strange land. Combining believable characters with thrilling adventure, Yep convinces readers that the Chinese railroad workers were indeed men to match the towering mountains of the west. Because the first few chapters, set in China, may be a bit confusing to children who have not read the previous two books, this will likely need booktalking.
Margaret A. Chang, North Adams State College, MA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1st edition (November 19, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060229713
• ISBN-13: 978-0060229719
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,539,139 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Laurence Yep has been fascinated with tales of sibling rivalry from the day he was born. His older brother, Tom, chose his name Laurence - after a saint who died a particularly gruesome death. Laurence has been trying to get even ever since. Laurence Yep now lives in Pacific Grove, California, with his wife and is one of children's literature's most respected authors. His award-winning titles include Newbery Honor Books Dragonwings and Dragon's Gate.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dragon's Gate - An Image of Poetry, April 30, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Dragon's Gate (Golden Mountain Chronicles, 1867) (Paperback)

Dragon's Gate is a very well written book that includes varying sensations that range from love to hate and from frustration to pride. Through this book you become conscious of many things that you would have disregarded if this book were not written. This book gives you a clear understanding of the hardships and discrimination faced by Chinese workers whilst building the railroad. The author, Laurence Yep's use of figurative language is what I like most about this book. He makes inanimate objects come alive through personification. At one point in the story, he calls the cold a living thing and has it snatch the warmth from one of his characters' bodies. Yep compares different things in an almost poetic manner. He compares the wooden bunks on a ship to coffins and another line from the book is: `...I saw him like a black shadow within the swirling snow.' I also like the way Yep uses Chinese superstitions in his book. These Chinese sayings make it easier for you (the reader) to connect with the characters in the book, as they are Chinese.
| would recommend this book to people between the ages of 10 and 16. I believe that people older than 16 will find this book really boring because this book is written at a Middle School level. Children under the age of 10 however will not be able to understand the depth of the book and they may not understand the concept of discrimination - a concept which is crucial for the text. In my opinion, the book is great just as it is and any changes may ruin the book.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars west junior high, March 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Dragon's Gate (Golden Mountain Chronicles) (Hardcover)

Dragon's Gate is definitley one of the best books I have read; its historical, yet realistic and something I can compare myself to. This book is about a young 14 year old boy who dreams of going to America,to gain his skills from this New World, come back and help the economy of his country--at least thats what he hopes to get. Otto hopes things will turn out so well because of his social status in his home land. You see, in China, his family is highly respected (because of their wealth and high order family). On the contrary, in America they are treated simply as slaves, laborers, inferiors: nothing else. So, now here in America, Otto, must learn to adapt, and overcome his fears of the cruelty of this New World. Meaning that he now must learn to survive and get along with many different kinds of peoples while also fighting to understand his new surrounding. In conclusion, I would like to reccomend this book to anyone who has time to spare and read a really well written book! Its just a really good book! :)

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nourhan's Review, April 30, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Dragon's Gate (Golden Mountain Chronicles, 1867) (Paperback)

Dragon's Gate is a truly enlightening book that I have had the pleasure of reading. Both the plot and the excellently mastered figurative language in this novel make it a great book to read. Laurence Yep has beyond the doubt mastered the art of personification, transforming inanimate objects into living and breathing things. Although figurative language is a valuable asset to any story, it alone cannot alone create a page turner. That's where an elaborately planned out storyline based on non-fictional information and events that occurred in history play a major role. This gives a flavor of reality to the story making it all the more enjoyable.

Laurence Yep begins off his novel by sweeping the reader away into the exotic orients of a land known as the Middle Kingdom (now known as China). We look through the eyes of a wealthy young man with what some may consider a dark past. An outcast at his own home, Otter truly seeks acceptance and struggles to find his own identity in a world built on racial discrimination. We follow Otter through the darkest and brightest of days and gradually grow close to this novel's protagonist as we find that we can relate to him in many different ways. This is the main reason I that I (personally) found this novel so compelling.

I would recommend this book to readers with exceptional reading skills (grade 6 and up) in order to really appreciate the excellent figurative language used in the story. I would also recommend this book to people who are unfamiliar to the abuse and mistreatment that the Chinese faced while building the transcontinental railroad. I think this book is great the way it is and would not change a single word in it for I think everybody would enjoy it the way it is.