The Jade Dragon by Carolyn Marsden and Virginia Shin-Mui Loh [in Bloomsbury Review]
Although based in part on the real-life experiences of Virginia Loh’s childhood in Northern Virginia, something about Dragon just doesn’t ring true. The premise seems unique and most definitely worthwhile – I can’t remember another middle-grade title that explores the growing relationship between the American-born daughter of Chinese immigrants and the Chinese-born adoptee in a white American family. That itself might be reason enough to give this title a chance, although by book’s end, I couldn’t shake feeling disappointed over the flat characterizations.
Review: “In Celebration of Asian Pacific American Month: New & Notable Books,” The Bloomsbury Review, May/June 2007
Readers: Middle Grade
Published: 2006
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