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.

ANNOTATION

When he accidentally kills a Manchu, a fifteen-year-old Chinese boy is sent to America to join his father, an uncle, and other Chinese working to build a tunnel for the transcontinental railroad through the Sierra Nevada mountains in 1867. Sequel to "Mountain light."

FROM THE PUBLISHER

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.

About the Author

Laurence Yep grew up in San Francisco, where he was born. He attended Marquette University, was graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz, and received his Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Mr. Yep now lives in Pacific Grove, California.

One of children's literature's most respected Asian American authors, Mr. Yep has written many novels, including Dragonwings, a Newbery Honor Book of 1976, and Dragon's Gate, a Newbery Honor Book of 1994. He is also the author of When the Circus Came to Town; The Imp That Ate My Homework, winner of the Georgia Children's Book Award; and The Magic Paintbrush.

The author of numerous other books for children and young adults, Mr. Yep has also taught creative writing and Asian American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley and Santa Barbara. In 1990 he received an NEA fellowship in fiction.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

This 1994 Newbery Honor Book, a prequel to Dragonwings, tells of 14-year-old Otter's 1865 emigration from China and subsequent travails in California. Ages 10-up. (May)

Children's Literature - Robyn Gioia

What are the hardships of being a young Chinese boy in a new American frontier during the late 1800's? What do you do when you have come from a privileged background and you are suddenly thrust into an unbearable work environment of little food, long grueling hours, and unbelievable danger? America's quest to build a transcontinental railroad is historically detailed in this fictional account of laying track across an unforgiving mountain known as "Snow Tiger." Young Otter wishes to join his father and uncle in America so he can be part of a new creation called the railroad. Forbidden by his adopted mother to join his father and uncle in the land of promise, Otter suddenly finds himself in jeopardy after encountering the combative Manchus. He arrives in America to find life is not what he thought. His uncle "Foxfire" is not the great man he thought him to be, and his once kingly father has been reduced to a groveling laborer. The intense physical labor, dangerous work, starvation, bitter cold, racial prejudice, and isolation bring the reader's senses to life. We feel Otter's desperation. Friendship and family love provide strength in this heart felt story. 2005 (orig. 1995), HarperCollins Children's Books, Ages 12 up.

School Library Journal

Gr 6-10-Yep uses the lively storytelling techniques of his ``Dragon'' fantasy-adventure novels to re-create a stirring historical event-here, the construction of the transcontinental railroad. Serpent's Children (1984) and Mountain Light (1985, both HarperCollins) described the political and natural disasters that led to widespread famine in 19th-century Southern China. Cassia and Foxfire, the ``Serpent's Children,'' came from a long line of revolutionaries. Foxfire followed his dreams across the sea to the ``Golden Mountain,'' California, where he earned enough money to revitalize his village. Dragon's Gate opens in China with Foxfire making a triumphant visit home. Otter, Cassia's adopted son, who tells the story, worships his uncle and longs to follow him back to the Golden Mountain. Granted his wish at last, Otter finds Foxfire working on ``Snow Tiger,'' a mountain in the Sierra Nevada range, where Chinese laborers strive to hew a tunnel through solid rock. Appalled by the living conditions and disillusioned with his uncle, Otter must struggle to survive racial prejudice, cold, starvation, the foreman's whip, and the dangers of frostbite and avalanche while trying to reconcile his ideals and dreams with harsh reality, and to find his place in a strange land. Combining believable characters with thrilling adventure, Yep convinces readers that the Chinese railroad workers were indeed men to match the towering mountains of the west. Because the first few chapters, set in China, may be a bit confusing to children who have not read the previous two books, this will likely need booktalking.-Margaret A. Chang, North Adams State College, MA