![]() First edition | |
Author | Laurence Yep |
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Language | English |
Series | Golden Mountain Chronicles |
Genre | Children's literature, historical fiction |
Published | HarperCollins (1995) |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | Paperback |
Pages | 352 |
ISBN | 0-06-440489-7 |
Preceded by | Mountain Light |
Followed by | The Traitor |
Dragon's Gate is a children's historical novel by Laurence Yep, published by HarperCollins in 1995. It inaugurated the Golden Mountain Chronicles and is the third chronicle in narrative sequence among ten published as of 2012.
Yep and Dragon's Gate won the Newbery Medal award in 1994. [1]
Otter, a fourteen-year-old Chinese boy growing up during the opium wars and the oppression of the Manchu dynasty. Otter wishes to travel to America, to the Land of the Golden Mountain called California. He longs to travel to California, so he can assist his Uncle Foxfire and father in the doing of the Great Work - their clan's dedication to taking back their country from the Manchu invaders and reestablishing the Ming dynasty. Yet with much disdain, he decides to remain in Three Willows to be with his mother, Cassia. After accidentally killing a Manchu soldier, Otter's life is in great peril. As a result, he was sent to America to join his father and uncle. Originally enthralled by this turn of events, Otter quickly realizes life in the Golden Mountain is a far cry from his dreams. Soon, Otter's dream becomes a nightmare as he struggles to persevere in a new, unfamiliar land filled with harsh conditions and even harsher people.
The family saga follows the Young family, initially in China. Dragons of Silk (2011) spans a few generations and brings the story to the present; nine previous novels have been dated 1849 to 1995.
Four of the ten historical novels are among Yep's five works most widely held in WorldCat libraries. [2]