Book Description from the Front Cover FlapBest friends Cal and Barney are down and out in Chinatown. In the America of 1939, they are trapped by invisible barriers created by racial prejudice. With no jobs and no real homes, it's only their wizardry with a basketball that's let them survive this long.That same skill suddenly flings a door open to fame and fortune when a professional basketball team, the Dragons, invites them to join the team. Soon they're barnstorming across America and taking on all comers-from local amateurs to other professional teams like the Harlem Globetrotters. On that long, difficult road, they must battle rowdy teams and their even rougher fans on makeshift courts. Cal, aka Flash, and the team must also overcome terrible weather, crumbling highways, and their own disintegrating car. As the tour starts to fall apart, the tension between Cal and the team's jealous captain comes to a head. Suddenly Cal must choose between loyalty to his teammates and the pursuit of his own celebrity. Inspired by the pioneering professional Chinese American basketball team the Hong Wah Kues, Newbery Honor author Laurence Yep re-creates a colorful era of barnstorming basketball and leads readers through the heartache and glory of the dragon road. Comments from Back Cover"Flash Chin has a sweet running jump shot and a chip on his shoulder bigger than a moon cookie, just what a barnstorming Chinese American basketball player needs to deal with nasty small-town referees, pre-World War II discrimination, and his own squabbling teammates. A terrific tale; smart, funny, heartwarming."-Robert Lipsyte, author of THE CONTENDER Background on Laurence YepLaurence Yep is the acclaimed author of more than sixty books for young people and a winner of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award. His illustrious list of novels includes the Newberry Honor Books Dragonwings and Dragon's Gate; When The Circus Came To Town, a Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies (NCSS/CBC); The Earth Dragon Awakes, a 2007 Text Bluebonnet Award Nominee; and The Dragon's Child: A Story Of Angel Island with Dr. Kathleen S. Yep.Mr. Yep grew up in San Francisco, where he was born. He attended Marquette University, graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz, and received his Ph.D. from the State University of New York Buffalo. He lives in Pacific Grove, California, with his wife, the writer Joanne Ryder. You can visit him online at www.laurenceyepbooks.com. |
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