1. Bibliography
Yep, Laurence. 2006. The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 9780060275259.
2. Plot Summary
A tale of hometown heroes and courage, this story revolving around the 1906 San Francisco earthquake is moving – and not just under your feet. Starting April 17, 1906, the reader follows good friends Henry (8 years old) and Chin (9 years old) through their families’ fight to survival during and after the earthquake. Henry is from a wealthy neighborhood in which all of the survivors are scrambling to protect their families and their belongings. Neighbors are gathering as many of their possessions as they can out of their homes and carrying them through the streets on anything with wheels. Henry’s mother even manages to take some of her umbrella collection out of the house. Chin’s home is in Chinatown where many Chinese immigrants are simply looking to escape the dangers of the fire. Each short chapter alternates between Henry and Chin’s stories with occasional interjections about the earthquake itself. The story ends on April 29, 1906 with the hills of rubble left behind that San Francisco is already starting to attempt to rebuild.
3. Critical Analysis
The theme of ordinary men being shown as heroes is highlighted throughout the book. At the beginning of the story, Henry and Chin express their love of “penny dreadfuls”, stories about Wyatt Earp who lives a life of excitement and adventure. Through different scenes and trauma of the earthquake, each boy compares his father to Earp and the stories they have read. The boys realize that their fathers are just as exciting and courageous. In the final chapter, Henry whispers to Chin “’We don’t have to look far for heroes. They were right under our noses all this time’” (105).
This story accurately captures the affects that the 1906 San Francisco earthquake had on the earth, the families and the city. Yep lends much attention to details about the earthquake itself including aftershocks and fires that broke out afterward. His research and reliability are impeccable. There is a detailed afterword about the earthquake, selected readings (including Yep’s interpretation of the most accurate book), other books to read and a list of websites you can find more information on. The final pages include 6 photos of the chaos in the city. Yep ties these into the story by including captions that relate the photos to the story.
4. Award & Review Excerpts
Nominated for Sunshine State Young Reader’s Book Award
Nominated for Texas Bluebonnet Award
“Devotees of penny dreadfuls, both boys long for excitement, not their fathers' ordinary routine lives. When the earthquake shakes the city and a firestorm breaks out, Henry and his parents scramble in the chaos and battle the fire, but must ultimately evacuate their home. Ching and his father survive the collapse of their Chinatown tenement, and flee to the ferry through the debris and turmoil”. -- Booklist
“Yep's research is exhaustive. He covers all the most significant repercussions of the event, its aftershocks, and days of devastating fires, and peppers the story with interesting true-to-life anecdotes. The format is a little tedious-one chapter visits Henry's affluent neighborhood, the next ventures to Chin's home in Chinatown, and back again-and the "ordinary heroes" theme is presented a bit heavy-handedly”. -- School Library Journal
5. Connections
- Other books about the San Francisco earthquake of 1906:
• Bronson, William. The Earth Shook, the Sky Burned. 1959. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co. ISBN 9780811850476.
• Karwoski, Gail. Quake! : a disaster in San Francisco, 1906. 2006. Atlanta, GA: Peachtree. ISBN 9781561453696.
• Tarshis, Lauren. I survived the San Francisco earthquake, 1906. 2012. Jefferson City, MO: Scholastic. ISBN 9780545206990.
-Ask children to write a story about what they would do if they were in an earthquake. Invite them to include illustrations to thoroughly think about the consequences such a natural disaster could have.
-Create a simulaneous earthquake discussion. Read books about earthquake in general. Teach children how and why they happen. After research, pose the question “What is the earthquake?”
