Dragon Road by Laurence Yep

Genre: Fiction

As Chinese Americans, Cal Chin and Barney Young had troubles finding jobs during the time of the Great Depression. Therefore when they were offered a place in a Chinese American basketball team called the Dragons and a chance to venture out of Chinatown, they agreed to play. Cal's youth and unmistakable talent make him into an instant basketball star, but with Cal's escalating fame comes jealousy among his teammates. Cal then must make an important decision regarding the fate of his basketball team. Laurence Yep's Dragon Road is a story about determination, friendship, conquering obstacles, achieving dreams, but most of all, basketball.

Cal is slightly egotistic, impulsive, prideful, and full of angst; he does everything he can to win, even if it means resorting to dirty tactics. In fact, his basketball career started after being discovered for attempting to con a group of boys. Admittedly, I didn't like him initially; however, he does grow and mature by the end of the novel. He shows that everybody makes mistakes, yet you can learn and grow from them. His strong personality did help him deal with discrimination and other ordeals.

I felt like a fan watching Cal's basketball games as I read; Yep's descriptions are vividly written and real. What's amazing is that the descriptions come from actual memories and interviews of people who have lived during the Depression, although all the characters are fictional. Dragon Road is a unique story; sure you can find many stories on modern basketball, but it was fascinating to learn about how different it was back then. I believe that Yep captured the spirit of the era. Though people struggled just to survive on meager wages, they were still determined and hard-working. With Cal, even though he gained fame through basketball, he didn't necessarily gain fortune.

(Note: This was also reviewed for HarperCollins Children's.)