β Scribed by Lint, Charles de
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Gr 9 UpβDe Lint returns to the imaginary location of The Mystery of Grace (Tor, 2009) in this novel set in the American Southwest. Jay Li is a 17-year-old Chinese American transplanted from Chicago's Chinatown to the desert. The title comes from the dragon tattoo on his back, which emerged from his skin when he was 11. Jay is a member of the Yellow Dragon clan, and, thanks to a mystical family inheritance, an actual dragon on a quest to protect mankind. His quest leads him to Santo del Vado Viejo, a town overrun by bandas, gangs, where he is taken in by Rosalie and Anna. Shortly after his arrival, it becomes clear that he is there to discover his dragon nature and to free the town from the gangs. Encounters with the βcousinsβ (animal spirits in human form), the gang leader El Tigre, and the mysterious Rita move Jay into an uncertain future that he only half understands. The novel travels back and forth between omniscient narration and Jay's first-person journaling, and while the threads work together, they are sometimes repetitive and oddly juxtaposed. Minor discordant notes regarding cultural and local knowledge may jar readers familiar with the geographic areas or cultural communities; the mythologies of both Chinatown and Santo del Vado Viejo seem superimposed on the locales instead of emerging organically from them. Characterizations are sketchy, making it difficult to invest emotionally in the players. The moderate pace does not negate the dramatic action, however, and that may be enough for de Lint's fans.βJanice M. Del Negro, GSLIS Dominican University, River Forest, IL. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
When Jay Li turned 11, the image of a dragon grew on his back, a symbol of his belonging to the Yellow Dragon tribe. After six years of intense training from his enigmatic grandmother, he leaves Chicagoβs Chinatown to find a place or people to protect, as the yellow dragons once protected the emperor. Jay is attracted to Santo del Vado Viejo, an Arizona barrio overrun with gangbangers led by the menacing El Tigre, also from an animal clan. Drawn into the lives of the locals, both human and supernatural, Jay must awaken his inner dragon to rid the town of violence. De Lintβs blend of Chinese and Mexican folklore is unexpected but complementary, transcending cultural differences, and his descriptions of the desert give it believable magic. Less successful is the storytelling itself: itβs overlong, and the flat, distant narrative, which hops among multiple viewpoints (including Jayβs superfluous journal entries), is heavy on exposition. Still, this imaginative story of mythological shape-shifters living among us will interest urban-fantasy fans. Grades 7-12. --Krista Hutley
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