Other editions of book Dragon's Gate

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.

‘In rural China in 1865, 14-year-old Otter eagerly sails to California to join his father and legendary uncle on the transcontinental railroad. On a freezing, snow-filled mountain in the Sierras, Otter begins his harrowing journey toward self-knowledge. An engaging survival-adventure story, a social history, a heroic quest.’—BL. ‘Told with humanity and compassion… a tribute to the survival and courage of these immigrants.’—1994 Newbery Committee. 1994 Newbery Honor BookNotable Children's Books of 1994 (ALA)1994 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)1993 "Pick of the Lists" (ABA)1994 John and Patricia Beatty Award (California Library Association)1994 Silver Medal for Literature (Commonwealth Club of America)

'In rural China in 1865, 14-year-old Otter eagerly sails to California to join his father and legendary uncle on the transcontinental railroad. On a freezing, snow-filled mountain in the Sierras, Otter begins his harrowing journey toward self-knowledge. An engaging survival-adventure story, a social history, a heroic quest.'--BL. 'Told with humanity and compassion... a tribute to the survival and courage of these immigrants.'--1994 Newbery Committee. 1994 Newbery Honor Book Notable Children's Books of 1994 (ALA) 1994 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library) 1993 "Pick of the Lists" (ABA) 1994 John and Patricia Beatty Award (California Library Association) 1994 Silver Medal for Literature (Commonwealth Club of America)

Dragon's Gate is a very well written book that includes varying sensations that range from love to hate and from frustration to pride. Through this book you become conscious of many things that you would have disregarded if this book were not written. This book gives you a clear understanding of the hardships and discrimination faced by Chinese workers whilst building the railroad. The author, Laurence Yep's use of figurative language is what I like most about this book. He makes inanimate objects come alive through personification. At one point in the story, he calls the cold a living thing and has it snatch the warmth from one of his characters' bodies. Yep compares different things in an almost poetic manner. He compares the wooden bunks on a ship to coffins and another line from the book is: `...I saw him like a black shadow within the swirling snow.' I also like the way Yep uses Chinese superstitions in his book. These Chinese sayings make it easier for you (the reader) to connect with the characters in the book, as they are Chinese. ( Amazon customer)

'In rural China in 1865, 14-year-old Otter eagerly sails to California to join his father and legendary uncle on the transcontinental railroad. On a freezing, snow-filled mountain in the Sierras, Otter begins his harrowing journey toward self-knowledge. An engaging survival-adventure story, a social history, a heroic quest.'--BL. 'Told with humanity and compassion... a tribute to the survival and courage of these immigrants.'--1994 Newbery Committee. 1994 Newbery Honor Book Notable Children's Books of 1994 (ALA) 1994 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library) 1993 "Pick of the Lists" (ABA) 1994 John and Patricia Beatty Award (California Library Association) 1994 Silver Medal for Literature (Commonwealth Club of America)

Otter is a young man who was forced to leave China and join his father and uncle in California where they worked on a transcontinental railroad. As he learned that the Chinese were little more than slaves who had to dig a path through the Sierra Nevada Mountains, his expectations were changed. More importantly, Otter learned that his father and uncle were not the heroes he thought they were. Trying to survive in brute working conditions, Otter has to undertake a desperate mission.

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.

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.