Dragon's Gate

Although this is listed as being part of a series, it totally stands alone. We start in the village in China where Otter has a privileged lifestyle. His family members working in the USA send back lots of money. making his mother and aunt rich. One fritters it away in opium, the other does good works. The first part of the book introduces us to the politics of China at the time of the Opium Wars. But this book is not about that. It is about the workers from China who made the journey to the new world of opportunity, to help unite the country by building a railroad alongside the Americans. They aim to learn the secrets of engineering and other modern ways, so that they might improve their own country. Otter hankers after his uncle and father, and when he’s the victim of a setup, escapes ‘justice’ by heading for the railroad himself. At first, it continues the somewhat irritating self-important point of view of the young man, but as he starts to discover the realities of life, so the story improves, in my opinion. Becomes more interesting, anyway. A side issue of a ‘forbidden friendship’ with a Yankee boy who arrives with him, adds to the contrast between the locals and the migrant workers. Up to this point, I felt the usual yawn I get when reading so many nominees or winners of the Newbery Prize. It’s just that the stories seem so ‘worthy’. I can almost hear the teachers discussing the historical and moral issues in the classroom. But then Yep’s magnificent descriptions start to take over. The mountain they are tunnelling through comes alive, and the snow threatening to avalanche their wooden huts into oblivion dances with both storm and sparkle. From a book set aside to pick up again when I had time, this turned into a can’t-put-downer. It is definitely worth traipsing through the build-up to get to the exciting, almost visceral climax. There’s a fairly boring wrap-up, but it may mean more to those whose history it celebrates. All in all, Dragon’s Gate turned from a generous 3-star to a solid 4-star read for me. Thank you, Mr Yep, for some wonderful insights into bits of history I knew little about, excitingly told. Although I’m afraid the conditions they experienced didn’t surprise me one bit. Well worth reading.

I remember listening to my teacher read this book to the class in school and I was reminiscing over things I learned from this book, decided I need a copy

Grandson loved the book

I'm a Yep fan, and Dragon's Gate only increased my appreciation for his ability as a storyteller. Since I'm also always interested in the 1850s during the Gold Rush and the building of the Trans-Continental Railroad, this was a perfect story for me. Yep paints a cold picture of how the Chinese labored under wicked condition--little food, severe weather, grueling back-breaking labor and discrimination. A proud man from China was treated as less than human, paid less than his Anglo co-workers, and worked longer almost unendurable hours. But inside this story is another one, one about a young Chinese boy who learns about life from two perspectives--his own and that of the western world. I loved the flawless prose and beautiful characters that emerged from this writer's pen.

A very interesting book and important for mid school age and beyond.