Dream Soul [Hardcover]

Laurence Yep (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

All Joan Lee and her younger siblings, Bobby and Emily, want for Christmas in 1927 is to be allowed to celebrate it. Joan longs to be just like everyone else, even if she is Chinese, but this will be the Lees' first Christmas in West Virginia! Miss Lucy, their landlady and friend, innocently invites the family to celebrate Christmas with her. Joan's parents resist at first, but that changes when Papa realizes he can turn it to his advantage. The children can have Christmas, but only if they are good--all the time.

Joan, Bobby, and Emily quickly become aware of how hard this will be as each day brings new temptations of sledding, playing in the snow, and spending time with friends. Joan is particularly intrigued by the glamorous Victoria Barrington and her father, who have a mysterious past and are so unlike her own family. But a crisis forces Joan to gain a new understanding of her parents and her heritage, and she must look to her past in order to help her family before it's too late.

Continuing the story of the Lees begun in The Star Fisher, winner of the Christopher Award and the West Virginia Literary Award, Dream Soul is a touching story of love, loyalty, and the importance of family.

Books for the Teen Age 2001 (NYPL)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-8-As the eldest child of stern Chinese immigrant parents, 15-year-old Joanie Lee is held strictly accountable for her high-spirited younger siblings. Expected to master her American school lessons and assist in the family's laborious post-World War I laundry, Joanie finds that her life brightens when their landlady wrings a promise to celebrate Christmas from the reluctant Mr. Lee, who adds the provision that the children must be perfect during the remaining weeks, a seemingly impossible task. Recent arrivals, the aristocratic Victoria Barrington and her charming father, provide some fun and friendship. Problems arise, however, when long workdays and the cold West Virginia winter make the scholarly Mr. Lee seriously ill. Facing the crisis with what she once passively rejected, Joanie fuses the wisdom of Chinese folklore with her own American grit to find her way. Details of landscape, climate, and period are quite evocative. Major characters are fully developed. Even the minor figures are interesting. Joanie's evolution in understanding the strength, love, and culture with which her parents have always graced her is warming. Although the cultural contrasts between East and West are reminiscent of Linda Crew's Children of the River (Laurel Leaf, 1991), Yep's lovingly crafted offering is for younger readers and has its own wonderful perspective.
Cindy Darling Codell, Clark Middle School, Winchester, KY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 5-8. In this sequel to Star Fisher (1991), Yep continues the story of the Chinese American Lee family in Clarksburg, West Virginia. In December 1927, Joan, Emily, and Bobby ache to celebrate Christmas with their landlord neighbor Miss Lucy, and their parents reluctantly concede. However, when they disobey and embarrass their father, he cancels their celebration. Joan admires her friend Victoria's doting dad, and is upset with her father's strict Chinese ways, until he becomes seriously ill. Recalling one of his stories, Joan sets out to bring her father's "dream soul" back to his body. The Lees' first Christmas celebration, though secular, radiates the warmth and spirit of the season in a jubilant conclusion. As Joan grows to understand and appreciate her father's old-world expressions of love, her observations and insights sound remarkably mature. Her constant awareness of being different and yearning to be "American," on the other hand, ring painfully true, and will leave readers awaiting a third installment. Linda Perkins
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (August 22, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060283890
• ISBN-13: 978-0060283896
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 6.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,625,378 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

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!!!!, June 6, 2001

By 

Joannie Lynn McGowan (Gainesville, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dream Soul (Library Binding)

The main character in this book, Joan, is a young Chinese-American girl trying to fit in with the rest of the children her age. She has chores and responsibilities that her American friends do not have. She also does not have as much money as some of the snobby girls she goes to school with. Her and her little brother and sister want to have Christmas more than anything. Their nosey neighbor Miss Lucy (a retired teacher) asks the children to have Christmas with her. Their father tells them they can only have Christmas (since it's not a Chinese holiday) if they behave perfectly up until Christmas. This story is a wonderful example of why children should appreciate their parents. Although Joan's father is not like American father's, he does love her and he shows that love by working hard to provide for the family. This book has many exciting parts as the children are trying to not get in trouble. I liked the book so much I couldn't put it down. The book provides a real insight to what it is like to live within a minority culture. It is also just a wonderful and entertaining story for anyone looking for a good book! :)