29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I want to get away, I want to fly away, May 13, 2004
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.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Dragonwings, April 7, 2000
This was an excellent book written through the eyes of a Chinese boy who comes to America and lives among white people, adjusting to their ways and making new friends. Laurence Yep does a wonderful job of portraying the world through the eyes of and immigrant in a new place. He shows the hardships as well as the good times. After reading this book I looked at life a little bit differently. Moonshadow and his dad shared the same dream of flying. And Windrider his father is being tested in this life to become a dragon in the next and by flying he might be able to accomplish this. Windrider shares wonderful dreams woth Moonshadow about being a dragon. The story is filled with love, trust and dishonesty. This is a book I would reccommend to anyone. This book helped me in my personal life as well. Now i know what it's like to be in a new place, and I will help people in a similar situation out and not make fun of them becausce I know I wouldn't want to be treated that way myself.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is a good book. I like it very much., April 4, 1999
By A Customer
Laurence Yep's novel DRAGONWINGS was the book that our teacher assigned to read for ESL studend. Like most of my classmates, at first I did not like this book. I thought both its story and language were so strange. But later on, I felt that the story more and more interesting, the language better and better. This novel is unusual historical novel. It describes the Chinese immigrants' life at the early of this century in San Francisco. It introduces a lot of Chinese culture and tradition to its readers which remind me what experience in my motherland China. On the other hand, it also introduces a lot of American culture from a Chinese child. It is a great reading book for ESL. Especially for Chinese students. All in all, it is worthy to read, even again. I'll suggest my son who is in third grade to read this book.
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