Laurence Yep published his children’s historical novel Dragonwings in 1975. In light of subsequent sequels published over the next few decades, it would come to be known as the volume which commenced the author’s wildly popular Golden Mountain Chronicles series which relates the broadly encompassing story of the Young clan spanning several generations. Chronologically speaking, the story told here fits roughly into the middle of that generational saga.
Dragonwings introduces the character of Moon Shadow Lee, the concept America’s prevailing majority as “white demons” to Chinese immigrants, and the stark connection between historical fact and narrative fiction which is a defining characteristic of the Golden Mountain Chronicles. This particularly entry, for instance, touches upon actual historical events like the devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the invention of the airplane by the Wright Brothers.
In 1995, Yep’s novel won the Phoenix Award, which is given to children’s literature which failed to snag any major awards upon its initial release. Although often considered a late-bloomer in terms of recognition by both critics and readers, Dragonwings did not go entirely unnoticed at the time of its original publication. The novel was a 1976 runner-up for the highest honor in children’s literature in the U.S., the Newbery Award (an achievement that would be duplicated by Dragon’s Gate nearly two decades later.) Dragonwings was also nominated for The Boston Globe’s Horn Book Award for the best achievement in juvenile fiction.
In 1991, a stage adaptation of Dragonwings premiered in San Francisco under the aegis of the Berkeley Repertory Theater.
