Carolyn Marsden and Virginia Shin-Mui Loh,
The Jade Dragon
Candlewick Press, 2006

Ages 6-9

Navigating the terrain of friendship is a universal theme in children's literature—and one that gains particular poignancy when aligned with the dynamics of cross-cultural acceptance. In Marsden and Loh's sensitive tale The Jade Dragon, a 2nd-grade girl, Ginny (or Xin Mei), experiences the isolation of being the only Chinese child in her class until another girl, Stephanie Bronelle, the adopted Chinese child of 'white' parents, crosses her path.

The opening lines of the book, taken from a song, 'We go together....That's the way it should be...' pose a challenge for Ginny as she struggles with the how's of acquiring a best friend within the conflicting environments of her traditional home and Stephanie's more materialistic 'American' culture. As the story unfolds, Ginny faces what many immigrant children face as they grapple with issues of conformity: how to honor the language, thinking, and rituals of family while forging a new and individual identity.

The depth of these considerations culminates at a slumber party when the girls disclose troubled wishes in answer to Stephanie's challenge: 'Tell me a secret... Any kind. Something that you don't want anyone to know.' 'Sometimes I wish my parents were Chinese,' Stephanie confesses first, 'Or sometimes... I just wish they'd left me in China.' Ginny responds with the self-effacing, 'Sometimes I wish I weren't Chinese... I wish I were just American.' 'I wish we were all white,' Stephanie says. 'Sometimes I don't even like to see Chinese people... When I see them, I think of my real parents.'

The story rebounds from whispered revelations with gestures that honor both 'white' and Chinese domains. While Ginny is chastised for an overnight of supposed frivolity and for lending Stephanie the treasured jade dragon of the title, Ginny's parents allow that Stephanie, 'born in China,' has roots that counter previous missteps, roots that make her worthy of the family's consideration and care.Given permission to celebrate her friend, Ginny settles more comfortably into the 'warm spices' of her mother's cooking, her gift for calligraphy, and her reacquisition of Chinese. Stephanie, too, considers Chinese classes in a conclusion that is thankfully open-ended. Marsden and Loh make it clear there is no single answer to what it means to be an American. Each girl will craft a composite identity in her own way.

Two other novels by Marsden, perfect for classroom sharing and easily generalized to any child facing self-definition and acceptance, include  The Quail Club and The Gold-Threaded Dress. Bird Springs, which chronicles the disrupted life of a Navajo boy and reflects her gentle probing of the challenges of marginalization, is Marsden's upcoming novel.

Ann A. Grandin, Librarian, San Francisco Waldorf Grade School
March 2007