BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSMoon Shadow is eight years old when he leaves his mother and grandmother in China and sails across the Pacific to join his father Windrider in San Francisco's Chinatown, a man he has never met. It is 1903, and the "Land of the Golden Mountain" turns out to be nothing like the family stories he grew up hearing. Moon Shadow arrives to find his father living and working with a small group of men called the Company of the Peach Orchard Vow, running a laundry, and harboring a remarkable secret: Windrider believes that in a former life he was a dragon physician, reborn in human form and tested by the Dragon King, and that he must prove himself worthy to become a dragon again. His latest obsession, sparked by news of two brothers named Wright who have flown a machine through the air, is to build an aeroplane of his own and lift himself into the sky.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Dragonwings
SPOILERSEvery one of these has the same answer, and that is the point. In a real battle the question is read aloud with a dozen other books in play, and students have a few seconds to place it. Here is what a battle might ask about Dragonwings. Use them as a quiz, a trivia round, or BOTB practice.
Where in the book they come from
- Early in the book
In what book are American houses described as boxes with no courtyards, as if the demons hated fresh air?
✓ Answer
Dragonwings by Laurence Yep
Stepping out of the immigration warehouse, Moon Shadow gets his first look at American architecture. He thinks the boxlike, drab houses without courtyards look like prisons, and he even feels sorry for the people who must live in them.
- First half
In what book does a boy mistake cow's milk for cow urine before bravely sipping it?
✓ Answer
Dragonwings by Laurence Yep
At Miss Whitlaw's kitchen table, Moon Shadow eyes the strange thick white liquid with suspicion. He has never seen milk before and assumes it must be urine. His father insists he drink it to be polite. The misunderstanding becomes one of the warm comic moments in their friendship.
- First half
In what book does an aunt sing "Simple Gifts" at an upright piano in a parlor filled with travel books?
✓ Answer
Dragonwings by Laurence Yep
On the first afternoon at Miss Whitlaw's house, Robin asks her aunt to play. Miss Whitlaw sits at her upright piano and sings the Shaker song in a sweet, high voice. Moon Shadow watches the afternoon sun light up the stained-glass window during the music.
- Second half
In what book does a boy write to the Wright brothers asking how to shape propellers for a homemade aeroplane?
✓ Answer
Dragonwings by Laurence Yep
Moon Shadow secretly mails a letter to the Wrights in Dayton on his father's behalf. Orville Wright actually writes back with tables and diagrams, calling them fellow flying enthusiasts.
- Second half
In what book does a pail jump like "a spider dancing on a hot stove" when an earthquake hits?
✓ Answer
Dragonwings by Laurence Yep
Moon Shadow has gone outside for water when the 1906 San Francisco earthquake strikes. The simile captures how solid objects suddenly become alive and unreal.
- Near the end
In what book does a robber jeer that a boy's patched clothes prove his life is ugly?
✓ Answer
Dragonwings by Laurence Yep
Black Dog mocks Moon Shadow's cold barn and threadbare clothes before pulling out his knife. Moon Shadow realizes Black Dog is jealous that he and his father have something to believe in.
