April and the Dragon Lady

by Lensey Namioka

Book Overview

April Chen is happily planning to go away to college, and she has a great new boyfriend, Steve. But as the only girl in her family, April is expected to take care of her grandmother. And Grandma, "the Dragon Lady," hates Steve and has other plans for April. Torn between her duty to her family and her desire for independence, April realizes she must find a way to define herself on her own terms.
Includes a reader's guide.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0152056696
• ISBN13: 9780152056698
• Release Date: August 2007
• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.0" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

April is Chinese-American. She lives with her father, brother, and grandmother in Seattle, Washington. When the story begins, April is a junior in high school. She plays in her school's orchestra and belongs to the geology club. April loves rocks. She wants to go to school in Colorado to study geology, but there is a big problem - GRANDMA. Grandma came to live with them when April was small. April's mother was so distraught that she went to work at the local library, until she died two years ago from lung cancer. In Chinese-American families, the most important family members are the boys. The girls don't count for much. April, growing up in America, is having trouble being submissive, especially to her spoiled, doted-on brother. When Grandma is diagnosed with diabetes and begins showing signs of senility, it is expected that April take care of her. April is torn between being the good Chinese daughter and pursuing her dreams of going to college and becoming a geologist. Her brother is so self-centered that April has to give up being in the orchestra and belonging to her rock club. Will she have to give up all of her dreams? I enjoyed reading APRIL AND THE DRAGON LADY and did so in about a week while reading three other books. April is a good character and her fight is interesting. The characters learned a lot during the length of the story about family, love, culture, independence, and giving to others. I highly recommend reading this book. Reviewed by: Marta Morrison

April's Fight for Freedom by J. Rich

In April and the Dragon Lady, April Chen faces difficulties trying to break free of her grandmother's control over her life and the customs of the Ancient Chinese. One of the challenges placed in her path by her controlling grandmother is the right to date Steve, April's Caucasian boyfriend. This is not allowed because of a custom that states that a Chinese woman must marry a Chinese man. Another challenge placed in her path is her grandmother's stubbornness to the old expression "my way or the highway". April faces the challenge of trying to break free of the Chinese customs but still taking care of her grandmother since her older brother Harry won't do anything, her father doesn't pay attention, and her mother is dead. In this book, April also discovers some new things about her grandmother that relate to the way she was brought up. One is that her grandmother is a racist and the other is that she is a sexist. She is racist against anyone not Chinese and she is sexist against women. Throughout the book, April begins to realize that she is neither American nor Chinese si she must stretch herself to cover both areas of her life and to get her grandmother to realize that the world is changing and no one lives by the old ways anymore, she must look deep inside herself and discover who is truly is. At the end of the book, April has discovered her true self and she receives a token from her grandmother (the Dragon lady) that shows her that she too can change.

East meets the West

This story is about a girl whose life is dominated by her grandmother. April,(the girl) is born in America whereas her grandmother was brought up in the East(China). In Chinese culture,the boys are more valuable than the girls. Poor April has to take care of her grandmother. One day,she met a Caucasian boy named Steve. From that day onwards,they became friends. Steve taught her equality and also told her that it's not only her responsibilty to take care of her grandmother. It's also her brother's job.April's grandmother doesn't like her children to marry a Caucasian. April's brother,Harry always give excuses to avoid taking care of Grandmother. April is forced to cancel a lot of music practise and other things. The whole family has to find a solution. I really pity April. I can't take that big responsibility of taking care of my grandmother. Many other things happen in this story. I find out a lot of hardships April goes through. I really love this book.

April and the Dragon Lady

I really enjoyed this book. First of all, it was very relatable, as I will be going to high school soon (in Seattle, just like April was) and I could recognize many of the landmarks she talked about. I also really liked all of the characters. The grandmother cracked me up, because she would go away to other families and places when she was angry, and would put the rest of her family in a worry looking all over for her. Also, she was very opinionated and hilarious - she blew dandelion seeds into the neighbor's yard just to make him mad, and also to get back at him for dumping leaves into HER yard. Haha! She was really well-thought-out, and so was the entire book. The author really made things realistic, and any time the author intended for the reader to be enraged, I was completely mad! This is a definite 5-star book! I hope you enjoy(ed) it as much as I did. Happy reading!

April and the Dragon Lady Critique

I give this book a 10, because it was very funny. I liked the grandma because she would run off when she gets mad. When it was her birthday in the book, she left and the uncle, dad, April, and Steve went looking for her. April found her at another table with a different family. She was a lot happier at the table with the other family. The grandma would get into trouble all of the time. The grandma hated April's boyfriend, Steve, because he was not Chinese. When Steve would come over she would watch his every move. When they went on a picnic, Grandma took off again after everybody went on different paths. They went into a panic, but they saw her come back with a big group of Chinese people. The grandma was a very goofy character. I liked her a lot. She was the one who made this book a great one. I would deffinatly reccomend this book to other people. If i had the chance, I would read this book again.