The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Yep, Laurence. 2006. THE EARTH DRAGON AWAKENS: THE SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE OF 1906. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 9780060275242. 

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Chin and Henry are friends. Chin’s dad, Ah Sing, works for Henry’s family as a ‘houseboy.’ The young boys both love to read about ‘ol West heroes, and they both live ordinary lives on opposite sides of San Francisco. Until the early morning of April 18th, when the whole city is suddenly plunged into chaos when a powerful earthquake rips open the ground. The story follows the hardships and turmoil that both boys and their families experience, from the destruction of their homes to the imminent danger of the great fires. Both boys discover there are modern-day heroes all around them.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
I learned a lot from this book!  Yep includes a significant amount of historical facts in the story, as well as some geological information. The story goes back and forth between two different families, one (assumed) white and one Chinese. The Travis family seems to be middle class, while the Chinese family are poor immigrants. Therefore, they live in different parts of town and lead different lives. However, natural disasters are great equalizers.

 

One theme of the book is ‘heroes.’ At first, Chin and Henry share a common interest in the heroes of the old West, like Wyatt Earp. Yep makes a point to highlight the heroics of everyday people on both sides of the story.  Although he doesn’t spend much time on characterization of any kind, instead he focuses on the hour-by-hour actions in the plot.  

His organization is also unique. The story is written in very short chapters, going back and forth between the two families.  Yep interjects chapters about the geological happenings also. He characterizes the earthquake and the fires, by personifying them as deliberate destroyers. 

In Yep’s “Afterword” he gives even more historical information and credits the historian, Gladys Hensen as the source for most of his historical accuracy in the book.  

4. AWARDS & REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Kirkus Reviews (March 2006)  “It is notable especially for the attention paid to the experience of San Francisco's Chinese immigrants, and a good choice for reluctant readers.”

School Library Journal (May 2006) “Its "natural disaster" subject is both timely and topical, and Yep weaves snippets of information on plate tectonics and more very neatly around his prose. A solid supplemental choice.”

5. CONNECTIONS
*This book would be a great story to use for compare and contrast with other stories centered around the Earthquake of 1906, like Lily and the great quake: a San Francisco earthquake survival story by Veeda Bybee, in the Girls Survive series. It would be easy to teach about perspective or point of view in these works. There are several others, like Escape from the great earthquake by Kate Messner, in the Ranger in Time series, or A City Tossed and Broken: the diary of Minnie Bonner by Judy Blundell, in the Dear America series, or Into the Firestorm: a novel of San Francisco, 1906, by Deborah Hopkinson.