1. Bibliography
Yep, Laurence. 2008. The Dragon’s Child: A Story of Angel Island. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-027693-5.
2. Plot summary
Although a work of fiction The Dragon’s Child is based on the coming-to-America experience of author Laurence Yep’s father and grandfather in 1922. 10-year-old Gim Lew leaves his small province in China and, with a father he barely knows, endures a long and difficult voyage to San Francisco; made more grueling by the knowledge that upon arriving in San Francisco he will be subjected to a difficult test administered by U.S. customs officials who do their best to make anyone from China fail. Handicapped by a stutter and the left-handedness he attempts to hide, Gim Lew is torn between his desire to please his father and his wish to remain in his small village in China.
3. Critical analysis
While doing genealogy research on the Yep family, the author’s niece came across the transcripts of the immigration interviews of Gim Lew Yep, the author’s father. The Dragon’s Child grew out of what he learned from those interviews. Cultural markers in The Dragon’s Child are of both Chinese culture and Chinese-American culture. Laurence Yep’s grandfather straddled both cultures and although he came to identify more with Chinese-American culture; he was a man without a country feeling not truly at home in either the United States or China. When Gim Lew’s father returned to China and announced he would be taking ten-year-old Gim Lew back to San Francisco with him, Gim Lew has no choice but to obey. He didn’t want to go to America but his father “said I had to go. So I went. I didn’t have a choice.” Cultural markers are viewed through the eyes of Gim Lew as he says goodbye to the life he has known and prepares to travel to America. In order to pass the grueling examinations he will be subjected to by U.S. immigration officials he must memorize every detail of his village, its people, his house, and his family. America, called the “Golden Mountain” by the Chinese who have traveled there and whose first view is the Golden Gate into San Francisco Bay, is very prejudiced against those coming from China and the tests are made as difficult as possible. Gim Lew, already unsure of himself due to his left-handedness and stutter, frowned upon in both Chinese and American culture, is drilled for months by his father on the proper answers to give. And although his father dislikes the culture of his old village in China and has become accustomed to the spicy and “fancy” food and leather shoes and suits of Chinese-Americans in the west, Gim Lew can only think of all he will miss as he is drilled over and over. He loves his cloth shoes and soft cotton pants. He knows he will miss his sister’s breakfasts; gruel made from left-over rice flavored with onions, eggs, and sometimes pork and the occasional treat of fried donuts. He will miss watching his uncle planting and harvesting the rice crop and hearing the "crisp sound the scythe made" when cutting down the rice plants. He will even miss his school master and classmates even though his school master often smacked his palm with a bamboo stick for using his left hand and stuttering. He will miss his village where everyone is related and all the surrounding villages he can see from the hilltop that are exactly like his own. Spending time with his father, Gim Lew learns he is perhaps not so different from his father as he thought. He discovers his father has struggled with the stigma of being left-handed also, and is not an important business man in America, as everyone in the village believes, but the houseboy for a wealthy American family. As he leaves his village for perhaps the last time Gim Lew reads the sign over the school, “The Family is Everything,” and hopes this at least won’t change for him when he reaches the Golden Mountain. Anyone who has ever had to leave somewhere familiar for someplace unknown will identify with Gim Lew and cheer when he triumphs over the immigration exams. Included are photographs of the author’s grandfather and father at the time of their immigration to the U.S., the Angel Island detention center where all Chinese immigrants waited to be tested, and web resources for readers who are interested in learning more about Angel Island and the Chinese immigrant experience.
4. Review excerpts
Kirkus Review: “Historian Kathleen S. Yep teams with her uncle Laurence to craft a compelling tale based on transcripts of his father's 1922 immigration interview. The Yeps relate the harrowing experiences of ten-year-old Gim Lew, who, after crossing the Pacific with his father, is interned on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, where he must submit to lengthy detailed interviews about his home, village and neighbors, in order to prove he is who he claims to be. The boy's frustration and anxiety rise from the page, as does this particularly xenophobic and unjust moment in U.S. history. Fiction based on facts and the authors' smooth narration vividly evoke the past and its inhabitants.”
Children's Literature: “Newbery Honor winner Laurence Yep is legendary for his Chinese American narratives; he breathes life and depth into stories many readers only experience in history books. In The Dragons Child, Yep teams up with his niece, Dr. Kathleen Yep, to tell the story of ten-year-old Gim Lew, who must leave China and move to America with his father. Will he pass the difficult tests administered by the officials of Angel Island? Will he find a new home and friends in America? The Dragons Child is partly autobiographical. Yep based the novel on conversations with his father and research relating to his family's immigration history conducted by his niece. Readers who have enjoyed Yep's previous novels will find this new work fascinating.”
5. Connections
Reader’s advisory suggestions for those who enjoyed The Dragon’s Child: A Story of Angel Island:
American Dragons by Laurence Yep
The Earth Dragon Awakes: the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 by Laurence Yep
The Traitor: Golden Mountain Chronicles, 1885 by Laurence Yep
Yep, Laurence. 2008. The Dragon’s Child: A Story of Angel Island. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-027693-5.
2. Plot summary
Although a work of fiction The Dragon’s Child is based on the coming-to-America experience of author Laurence Yep’s father and grandfather in 1922. 10-year-old Gim Lew leaves his small province in China and, with a father he barely knows, endures a long and difficult voyage to San Francisco; made more grueling by the knowledge that upon arriving in San Francisco he will be subjected to a difficult test administered by U.S. customs officials who do their best to make anyone from China fail. Handicapped by a stutter and the left-handedness he attempts to hide, Gim Lew is torn between his desire to please his father and his wish to remain in his small village in China.
3. Critical analysis
While doing genealogy research on the Yep family, the author’s niece came across the transcripts of the immigration interviews of Gim Lew Yep, the author’s father. The Dragon’s Child grew out of what he learned from those interviews. Cultural markers in The Dragon’s Child are of both Chinese culture and Chinese-American culture. Laurence Yep’s grandfather straddled both cultures and although he came to identify more with Chinese-American culture; he was a man without a country feeling not truly at home in either the United States or China. When Gim Lew’s father returned to China and announced he would be taking ten-year-old Gim Lew back to San Francisco with him, Gim Lew has no choice but to obey. He didn’t want to go to America but his father “said I had to go. So I went. I didn’t have a choice.” Cultural markers are viewed through the eyes of Gim Lew as he says goodbye to the life he has known and prepares to travel to America. In order to pass the grueling examinations he will be subjected to by U.S. immigration officials he must memorize every detail of his village, its people, his house, and his family. America, called the “Golden Mountain” by the Chinese who have traveled there and whose first view is the Golden Gate into San Francisco Bay, is very prejudiced against those coming from China and the tests are made as difficult as possible. Gim Lew, already unsure of himself due to his left-handedness and stutter, frowned upon in both Chinese and American culture, is drilled for months by his father on the proper answers to give. And although his father dislikes the culture of his old village in China and has become accustomed to the spicy and “fancy” food and leather shoes and suits of Chinese-Americans in the west, Gim Lew can only think of all he will miss as he is drilled over and over. He loves his cloth shoes and soft cotton pants. He knows he will miss his sister’s breakfasts; gruel made from left-over rice flavored with onions, eggs, and sometimes pork and the occasional treat of fried donuts. He will miss watching his uncle planting and harvesting the rice crop and hearing the "crisp sound the scythe made" when cutting down the rice plants. He will even miss his school master and classmates even though his school master often smacked his palm with a bamboo stick for using his left hand and stuttering. He will miss his village where everyone is related and all the surrounding villages he can see from the hilltop that are exactly like his own. Spending time with his father, Gim Lew learns he is perhaps not so different from his father as he thought. He discovers his father has struggled with the stigma of being left-handed also, and is not an important business man in America, as everyone in the village believes, but the houseboy for a wealthy American family. As he leaves his village for perhaps the last time Gim Lew reads the sign over the school, “The Family is Everything,” and hopes this at least won’t change for him when he reaches the Golden Mountain. Anyone who has ever had to leave somewhere familiar for someplace unknown will identify with Gim Lew and cheer when he triumphs over the immigration exams. Included are photographs of the author’s grandfather and father at the time of their immigration to the U.S., the Angel Island detention center where all Chinese immigrants waited to be tested, and web resources for readers who are interested in learning more about Angel Island and the Chinese immigrant experience.
4. Review excerpts
Kirkus Review: “Historian Kathleen S. Yep teams with her uncle Laurence to craft a compelling tale based on transcripts of his father's 1922 immigration interview. The Yeps relate the harrowing experiences of ten-year-old Gim Lew, who, after crossing the Pacific with his father, is interned on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, where he must submit to lengthy detailed interviews about his home, village and neighbors, in order to prove he is who he claims to be. The boy's frustration and anxiety rise from the page, as does this particularly xenophobic and unjust moment in U.S. history. Fiction based on facts and the authors' smooth narration vividly evoke the past and its inhabitants.”
Children's Literature: “Newbery Honor winner Laurence Yep is legendary for his Chinese American narratives; he breathes life and depth into stories many readers only experience in history books. In The Dragons Child, Yep teams up with his niece, Dr. Kathleen Yep, to tell the story of ten-year-old Gim Lew, who must leave China and move to America with his father. Will he pass the difficult tests administered by the officials of Angel Island? Will he find a new home and friends in America? The Dragons Child is partly autobiographical. Yep based the novel on conversations with his father and research relating to his family's immigration history conducted by his niece. Readers who have enjoyed Yep's previous novels will find this new work fascinating.”
5. Connections
Reader’s advisory suggestions for those who enjoyed The Dragon’s Child: A Story of Angel Island:
American Dragons by Laurence Yep
The Earth Dragon Awakes: the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 by Laurence Yep
The Traitor: Golden Mountain Chronicles, 1885 by Laurence Yep
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