American Dragons: Twenty-five Asian American Voices

by Laurence Yep (Editor), Kam Mak (Illustrator), Ann Tashi Slater (Contributor)

The dragon, a symbol of Asian art and mythology, appears in many guises and is always adaptable -- a survivor par excellence. Asian Americans display this same supple strength as they move between their Asian culture and their American one. In American Dragons , Laurence Yep brings together twenty-five talented writers, each with a different story about the Asian American - A Chinese American girl struggles to find her place in a suburban high school without denying her true intelligence. - A young woman is torn when her romantic feelings clash with the expectations of her Vietnamese parents. - A twenty-first-century teenager and his aging grandfather learn that it is possible to live in the future without losing touch with the past.

Genres: Short Stories, Anthologies, Poetry, Asian American

237 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Born June 14, 1948 in San Francisco, California, Yep was the son of Thomas Gim Yep and Franche Lee Yep. Franche Lee, her family's youngest child, was born in Ohio and raised in West Virginia where her family owned a Chinese laundry. Yep's father, Thomas, was born in China and came to America at the age of ten where he lived, not in Chinatown, but with an Irish friend in a white neighborhood. After troubling times during the Depression, he was able to open a grocery store in an African-American neighborhood. Growing up in San Francisco, Yep felt alienated. He was in his own words his neighborhood's "all-purpose Asian" and did not feel he had a culture of his own. Joanne Ryder, a children's book author, and Yep met and became friends during college while she was his editor. They later married and now live in San Francisco.

Although not living in Chinatown, Yep commuted to a parochial bilingual school there. Other students at the school, according to Yep, labeled him a "dumbbell Chinese" because he spoke only English. During high school he faced the white American culture for the first time. However, it was while attending high school that he started writing for a science fiction magazine, being paid one cent a word for his efforts. After two years at Marquette University, Yep transferred to the University of California at Santa Cruz where he graduated in 1970 with a B.A. He continued on to earn a Ph.D. in English from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1975. Today as well as writing, he has taught writing and Asian American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley and Santa Barbara.

Reviews

[Avivi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always felt like I was the only one who was "different" The only one who has to live up to two different sets of expectations. One with my family and the other with my friends. Never mix of these two because the consequences could be life-threatining, well, at least to me. However, after reading "American Dragons", it felt nice to not be "the only one".

I quite enjoyed this book because it contains many different smaller stories! Another reason is because I happen to have a double identity as well, so many of the stories were easy to connect with. Even if these double identities may not be from the same cultures as I am, I was still able to understand their struggles and found many solutions to problems of my own. Another thing I really enjoyed about this book is that I was able to read not one but many stories written by different authors, therefore, I was able to get a good amount of different perspectives as well as cultural background and voices of their own.

My favorite story from this book would probably be “Stoplight” by Steve Chan-No Yoon. (spoliers) It’s about the author’s experience when he first arrived in LA as a child.

“The stupid children are the bad ones and the smart children are the saints” the author talks about how he thinks the Chinese way of comparing children is based on their grades and is very unfair. He also feels that it is quite hard to fit into the two societies because he has to live up to two completely different standards. Later on in the story the author meets a “friend” who has similar problems with him, the ending is quite unpredictable and leaves the reader shocked and something to think about. I would recommend this book to others who have similar double identities. However, if you happen to not come from these cultural backgrounds, many of these stories are still fascinating to read and not at all confusing!

[Royal · Rating 2 out of 5]

American Dragons is an anthology of personal essays, poems, and short stories by Asian Americans. The book is structured into different themes related to diaspora, cultural identity, immigration, and family, and some of the stories are very touching.

I think this book is definitely a product of its time but I still think it was pretty important as it provides a historical snapshot of life as an Asian American back in the 80s and 90s.

The author/editor is a professor at UC Berkeley, and it seems that most of the writing is done by students, so the writing style is a little juvenile and could have used some editing. The best written pieces are the ones by the author at the beginning of each section, summarizing the significance of each section. I appreciate that he describes how Asian Americans experience unique challenges to living in the US both because of generational differences and because of the huge dichotomy between Western and Eastern cultures. This really sets the stage for the rest of the stories.

[Saanvi · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the different stories and poems were so different, and it was really fun to experience so many different stories.

[Troy Fanton]

10 Copies

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started the book "American Dragons" the first day the break started, and finished it on the very last day!
Overall, I have to say that American Dragons was one of the most thought-provoking yet mind rattling books I have ever read. It was quite a roller coaster. American Dragons is a collection of short stories written by Asian American authors about what it is like to be an Asian living in America. While I was first reading the book, I thought that the book was pretty "normal" as it used quite simple every day vocabulary, imagery to describe each of the events that were happening in the book, and had consisted of quite, "normal" plots that had to do with Asian Americans having a trouble fitting in with school, life, etc. However, as I read on, I realized that the more of the short stories I read, the more complex, deep, and memorable the plots were. They were no longer just short stories describing teenage life as an Asian American, but there were entire poems, scripts that were performed on stage, song lyrics, unsent letters, etc. that described the lives of Asians and the struggle to stay either American or Asian. Not only that, but many of these Asian Americans had turned to creative ways to explain what it felt like. Some of the short stories I had read turned out to be under the science fiction genre, and another story explored elements of Chinese mythology and folklore. There were even some historical fiction genre thrown in there when the book explored what it was like to be a Japanese living in America during WWII.
Overall, I had thoroughly enjoyed this book very, very much. Every time I picked up the book to endure another short story, I felt like I was going on another adventure through the eyes of either a Chinese American, Japanese American, Korean American, Tibetan American, Thai American, or Cambodian American. Unlike other books, I felt like I could go back and forth in time, and explore topics such being an Asian in WWII, and being an Asian about 100 years from now. I also learned a lot more about the different Asian cultures and perspectives that they have living and growing up in America. I found that almost every single short story that was included in this story was really relatable to me, and would be really relatable to any other Third Culture Kid. I felt like this book was really able to express what it really is to feel like to live in an area where the people around you are different, and this book is able to describe it in a really creative and imaginative way. I highly recommend it to anyone who feels like they would like to find out more about Asian Americans, or anyone who would like to try out something new with reading. It's definitely a great read!
For anyone who is just interested reading a couple short stories instead of the whole entire book, I would highly recommend the story "Black Powder" which talks about an Asian American grandpa one hundred years from now explaining to his grandson that lives in space about the traditional customs of the Chinese, as well as the story, "Who's Hu?" which explores the topic about Asian stereotypes in America. Both of these stories in particular have fantastic imagery, and a really special narration style that is specific to the author.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

American Dragons consists of short stories and personal essays written by Asian Americans. The stories focus on the conflict between growing up Asian in an American society, and trying to balance the two cultures. The book was meant for teenagers especially, because all of its stories are about teenage Asian Americans. In many of the stories, there is a conflict between parent and child, the parent trying to be traditional while the child tries to be more "Americanized".

I found it strange that all of the stories took place in California. There are Asian Americans all throughout the United States, why compile a book that only has Asian Americans from one state? Also, I could never tell if the stories were memoirs or fictional. I thought all of the stories were real at first, but in some cases, upon flipping back I realized that the author's names didn't match the names of their main character (or the main character was a different gender).

I could relate to this book on some levels, as a Russian living in America. I also face the conflict of my parents being more traditional and holding on to Russian customs, while I embrace American culture more. However, I felt like the book exaggerated the divide between two cultures. The way some stories were written, it almost seemed like the characters saw themselves as complete aliens amongst white people. Most of the stories suggested that all Asian Americans are entirely focused on getting good grades and getting into a good college. I thought this was just a stereotype, but the stories plainly state that it is true. I don't think such generalizations should have been made.

[Alexa SOF2014 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This great novel is a compilation of Asian-American authors who wrote 20-5 poems, short stories, and a play. Each of these pieces explores the themes of childhood or adolescence. Many of the stories are from different asian cultures such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, and Vietnamese backgrounds. Each story explores different themes such as family relationships, racism, love, and cultural conflicts. One of my favorite stories was "Wu Hu". She was an unpopular Chinese girl who loves to study math. She doesn't care bout popularity. Instead she partakes in a math contest. Another story "Rain Main", a Vietnamese woman gives up her romance with an American man because of her traditional Vietnamese parents.

I loved reading each of these stories because for the first 6 years of my life I lived in S.E Asia and got to know many of these cultures. As I now realize there is a big difference between East/West cultures. Living in Thailand and visiting China many times gave me insight into how different American and Asian cultures are especially family differences. I learned a true respect for elders and an intellectual dedication that the Asian children have in the pursuit of their education.

I really enjoyed reading this book but I gave it 3 stars. All of my wonderful memories came back to me of my experiences in S.E Asia. Since I attended foreign schools, I grew up having close friends from many different cultures. My two best friends at the time were from Japan and Indonesia.

[Gale · Rating 3 out of 5]

WEAVING A TAPESTRY OF THE AMERICAN HOPESCAPE

This anthology features 25 Asian-American voices (writers of short stories, poetry and drama) which editor Lawrence Yep has carefully chosen as representative of the Asian American experience. The authors reflect a variety of backgrounds: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Thai, yet they share basic commonalities of the immigrant experience. Yep's introduction explains why he refers to these Voices as Dragons; he also includes brief explanatory paragraphs among various sections of the book. Primarily it offers points of view from teenagers or young people who are struggling to define their roles in this new world of America, while retaining their cultural heritage.

Most of the protagonists are torn between the desire for acceptance in the broad spectrum of American pop culture, while trying not to betray the dreams and memories of their odler generations. The cover on the paperback edition wordlessly portrays the Chinese rice bowl (symbolic of food) and the Japanese art of orgami (creativity), both depicted against a stark landscape. These "American Dragons" have caused it to bloom with fertility and beauty--thus deserving our literary respect;in fact, their experiences reflect and validate those of most immigrants to our seemingly affluent shores.

(October 15, 2010. I welcome dialogue with teachers.)

[Xing · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book, this book is kind of similar to the another book named "Joy Luck Club". The same thing about those two book is that in both books there are many different stories about Chinese people in America. Even though the stories are all about Chinese families but, their stories are very different. Some of their experiences are very similar to mine. From the book, i can see the differnet in culture and thinking between Chinese and Americans. After finished this book, i want to know why the author named called it "American Dragons"? How did he/she came up with this title? In China, i had heard story about dragon. But what is "American Dragons"????

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of poetry, memoir, and fiction portrays a variety of Asian American experiences. As an Asian American myself, I appreciated both seeing some of my own experiences reflected in the writing as well as the way that expressing multiple voices shows that not all Asian American experiences are the same. There is nuance in the different stories, yet there is a constant connection to this exploration of who we are and what does that mean.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An anthology of short stories and poems written by Asian American (Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, Cambodian, Laotian, Vietnamese, etc.) authors telling of their varied experiences growing up in America. The stories emphasize both the uniqueness and common humanity we share.

[Reuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short stories by 25 Asian-Americans.

[Diane Dunham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book. Always enjoyed reading Laurence Yep, this was a good way to be introduced to other Asian - American writers.