Dragon's Gate - (Golden Mountain Chronicles) by Laurence Yep (Paperback)

About the Book

The prequel to the Newbery Honor-winning Dragonwings. In rural China in 1865, 14-year-old Otter begins his journey to America to meet his father and legendary uncle on the transcontinental railroad. In the freezing mountains of the Sierras, Otter begins to discover himself and what he's made of.

Book Synopsis

Otter has always dreamed of going to America, "the Land of the Golden Mountain." There, together with his adoptive father and his hero, Uncle Foxfire, he plans to learn everything he can about American technology. Armed with this knowledge, they can all return to China and carry out the Great Work - to free China from the tyranny of the Machu and other invaders.

From the Back Cover

In 1867, Otter travels from Three Willows Village in China to California -- the Land of the Golden Mountain. There he will join his father and uncle.

In spite of the presence of family, Otter is a stranger among the other Chinese in this new land. And where he expected to see a land of goldfields, he sees only vast, cold whiteness. But Otter's dream is to learn all he can, take the technology back to the Middle Kingdom, and free China from the Manchu invaders.

Otter and the others board a machine that will change his life -- a train for which he would open the Dragon's Gate.

Review Quotes

"Combining believable characters with thrilling adventure, Yep convinces readers that the Chineses railroad workers were indeed men to match the towering mountains of the west."--"School Library Journal "Told with humanity and compassion, "Dragon's Gate is a tribute to the survival and courage of these immigrants."--"1994 Chair, Newberry Award Committee""An engaging survival-adventure story, a social history, a heroic quest."--"Booklist

"An engaging survival-adventure story, a social history, a heroic quest".

-- ALA Booklist