The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 [Hardcover]

Laurence Yep (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up

A gripping portrait of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake by Laura Ingalls Wilder Award winner Laurence Yep.

When the quake subsides, Chin and Henry and their families are lucky to be alive. But now they must escape the fires that have broken out and find their way to safety–before it's too late.

Based on actual events and told from the alternating perspectives of two young friends, The Earth Dragon Awakes is a suspenseful novel about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake by Newbery Honor author Laurence Yep.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-7 Yep looks at the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 from two points of view. Chin is a young Chinese immigrant whose father is a houseboy for a prominent banker and his family. He has become friendly with young Henry Travis, the banker's son, through their interest in low-brow but exciting penny dreadfuls. The stories depict heroic people doing heroic things and, while both boys appreciate their fathers, they certainly do not regard them as heroes. Not, that is, until the Earth Dragon roars into consciousness one spring morning, tearing the city asunder and making heroes out of otherwise ordinary men. Yep's research is exhaustive. He covers all the most significant repercussions of the event, its aftershocks, and days of devastating fires, and peppers the story with interesting true-to-life anecdotes. The format is a little tedious one chapter visits Henry's affluent neighborhood, the next ventures to Chin's home in Chinatown, and back again and the ordinary heroes theme is presented a bit heavy-handedly. Throughout the text, the boys compare their fathers to Wyatt Earp. But the story as a whole should appeal to reluctant readers. Its natural disaster subject is both timely and topical, and Yep weaves snippets of information on plate tectonics and more very neatly around his prose. A solid supplemental choice. Catherine Threadgill, Charleston County Public Library, SC
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From Booklist

Gr. 3-5. On the evening of April 17, 1906, neither eight-year-old Henry nor his friend Ching is aware that the earth beneath their San Francisco homes is shifting. Devotees of "penny dreadfuls," both boys long for excitement, not their fathers' ordinary routine lives. When the earthquake shakes the city and a firestorm breaks out, Henry and his parents scramble in the chaos and battle the fire, but must ultimately evacuate their home. Ching and his father survive the collapse of their Chinatown tenement, and flee to the ferry through the debris and turmoil. In the midst of catastrophe, the boys realize that their fathers are real-life heroes. Henry and Ching's stories are told in alternating chapters with a few interruptions for the insertion of earthquake information. Told in the present tense, the narration provides a "you are there" sense of immediacy and will appeal to readers who enjoy action-packed survival stories. Linda Perkins
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 117 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (April 4, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060275243
• ISBN-13: 978-0060275242
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,090,967 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

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Earth Dragon Awakes, September 23, 2007

By 

Wanda D. Richardson "rich read" (Canton, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 (Hardcover)

This is an excellent young adult book. It is one of our Georgia Book Award Nominees for 2007-2008. It is a great way for kids to learn about what the earthquake was like from a young person's view point. The language of the book was very descriptive. You felt like you were there.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An exciting story that will appeal to children ages 8-12, May 31, 2006

By 

A Customer (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 (Hardcover)

Chin and his father, Ah Sing, live in Chinatown with thousands of other Chinese immigrants. Ah Sing is a houseboy for Mr. Travis, a well-to-do banker who lives in a very nice San Francisco neighborhood with his wife and son, Henry. Henry and Chin are good friends; Henry shares his comic books with Chin, who is using them to learn how to read. Henry's parents and Ah Sing don't approve of the comic books their boys find so interesting.

Henry's dog, Sawyer, is very upset. He's whimpering and afraid, sensing that something is terribly wrong. Even the chickens in Ah Quon's butcher shop are skittish and frightened. What could be scaring the animals?

Over one-third of a million people are sleeping or just waking up around 5 A.M. on April 18, 1906 in the San Francisco area when the earthquake begins. Author Laurence Yep describes what it's like: "It is as if more than 18 million sticks of dynamite explode beneath them. That is more force than the atom bomb that struck Hiroshima."

At the Travis house Sawyer begins to howl. Henry hears a low rumble, then his books bounce off their shelves. Plaster drops off the walls and windows shatter. The house across the street falls apart.

Over in Chinatown the floor in Ah Sing's little apartment actually rolls under his feet. Boxes fall. Possessions are scattered everywhere. Windows shatter, and walls crack and crumble. Then the ceiling falls.

Imagine the chaos and destruction as houses tumble like flimsy paper cards. Water mains break. Thousands of people are trapped under falling rubble --- bricks, wood and plaster. Cable-car tracks are twisted and contorted. Fires are breaking out and spreading rapidly because there aren't enough firemen to fight that many fires. Those who are able to are helping rescue people, pets and a few belongings. Everyone is desperately trying to find a safe place.

This disaster is bringing out the best in most people, but also the worst as some folks are charging outrageous prices for the few supplies and what little transportation is available.

Henry and Chin's families experience many hazards and great uncertainty, but they do survive the earthquake and the fires. Both Henry and Chin are very proud of their fathers for the way they overcame the hardships and kept their families safe during the disaster.

--- Reviewed by Carole Turner

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Look Out for the Earthquake, October 23, 2007

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 (Hardcover)

Look out for the earthquake! The Earth Dragon Awakes is one of the best books ever. It is mostly about two kids named Chin, and Henry trying to survive an earthquake. This is a serious book about a real-life event, the San Francisco earthquake. First the brothers are just living a normal life then all a sudden a earthquake comes. Luckily they survived the earthquake .Then after the earthquake, wait I can't tell that, but what ever you do don't take your eyes off that book. It is so good. Break your arm if you have to get it.