Reviews for Dragonwings and Related Readings

The average rating for Dragonwings and Related Readings based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-01-23 00:00:00 Kelly M Williams Summary: This novel tells the story of Moon Shadow's decision to leave the Middle Kingdom and come live in turn-of-the-century San Francisco with his father. It chronicles his life in America, first in the Tang people's part of the city (what white people call Chinatown), and then living alone with his father among the "demons," as he considers white people. Response: I have never read a Laurence Yep book, and I am so glad I finally did. I will definitely read more. Aside from how much I enjoyed the narrative elements, I enjoyed the perspective-shift that Yep provided me as a white reader. He not only chooses a character who can provide me with a new perspective, but he uses language conventions in such a way as to jar me out of my usual position. For example, he refers to China and the Chinese people by the names they themselves would use (the Middle Kingdom, the T'ang people), and his main character constantly refers to white people as demons. He also italicizes all the American words in the book, a convention that usually highlights the "foreign" words in a story. The cumulative effect of this was to make me feel like the outsider, in a way, because from Moon Shadow's point of view, my familiar world is his foreign world. many writers of immigrant stories convey that very well, but I really enjoyed how Yep accomplished this goal in a very specific way. It is the same reason that I enjoyed the reading experience, as well as the information, in A to Zen, where the book is not only about Japan, but is laid out in a Japanese book format. HISTORICAL FICTION

Review # 2 was written on 2012-02-01 00:00:00 Terry Odom This is an enjoyable tale of a young Chinese boy who travels to the US to be with his father. His father longs to fly and begins a correspondence with the Wright Brothers. I'll spare the details of his quest to avoid spoilers, but honestly, that part of the plot seems to take a back seat to what I felt the true message of the story is. The author calls Dragonwings an historical fantasy. It is loosely based on a Chinese man who did actually create a flying machine that stayed airborne for 20 minutes in the early 1900's. Few details remain about that man, so the author intertwined his character with other stories of what life was like for the Chinese immigrants back then. I love stories like this that invite the reader to see the world from another perspective. I love the beauty of various cultures and I love stories of friendships that form, allowing different individuals to understand each other a little better and see how those cultural beliefs and practices influence the human being behind them. Too often, we define others by the strange differences we perceive. A Hasidic Jew might seem weird, with his dark suit, tzitzits, sidelocks, and beard. It can be hard to figuratively see past the burqa worn by a Muslim woman. And in the case of this book, one might have been blinded by the stereotypes about the china-men "stealing jobs from Americans" while building railroads or washing clothes. In the end, we're all people. People with families and dreams. People who draw strength and understanding from traditional stories, religion, or folklore. People trying to survive. And in the most beautiful cases - people working hard to realize a dream. Wow, this review got soap-boxy in a hurry. Anyway, I recommend this story. It's not on my top ten list, but it did make my commute much more enjoyable over the last week or so.