Review of The Case of the Lion Dance

A. Book Information

Yep, Laurence. 1998. New York, NY: Harper Collin’s Children’s Books. ISBN 0-06-024447-X.

B. Plot Summary

Auntie Tiger Lil has planned an elaborate opening celebration for the opening of the Wok Inn restaurant in San Francisco’s Chinatown. She has even arranged for a competitive Lion Dance in which the winning lion will eat a cabbage of $2,000 dollars- to be given to charity. When the bills explode and the money is missing, former Hollywood star Auntie Tiger Lil and young Lily have an adventure ahead of them finding the perpetrators.

C. Critical Analysis

This mystery book is light-hearted with slap-stick humor, but beware, on the inside flap it claims it is for grades 3-7 but on page five it starts off with some rather strong language, “You’ve bastardized our art and prostituted our discipline.” This type of language is probably inappropriate for eight-year olds in third grade.

The setting of this book is in San Francisco’s Chinatown in modern time. The quest to find the theif takes place all over Chinatown, through alleys, neighboring Little Italy, and sweet-smelling restaurants. The setting is very authentic, describing several parts of San Francisco, “…all the way to Market Street, the main thoroughfare that cuts diagonally across the heart of San Francisco,” (p. 143).

Cultural markers are through out this book- such as the struggle of the Chinese American who can not speak English, “The employer pays someone like Kong under the table, .. There’s no such things as benefits or a vacation,” (p. 109). We see the tenements that the poor, working class Chinese live in-- run-down and over-crowded. Traditional Chinese honor and resulting family feuds is a central theme in this novel, “Everyone said he was so honorable, so I decided that I would get the family to pay me one way or another. It took almost twenty years , but I got it from the daughter. With interest. Two thousand dollars instead of one thousand,” (p. 208). This is from the thief, Bernie who took it a little too far!

This is a cute mystery book, of the same caliber as Nancy Drew or The Hardy Boys, only with Chinese-American characters, which is needed to represent the diversity in America. This book will interest any child who likes mystery because of the adventure- the exposure to Chinese American culture is just an added bonus.

D. Review Excerpts

From School Library Journal
Grade 4-7-Tiger Lil and her niece, Lily, first introduced in The Case of the Goblin Pearls (HarperCollins, 1997), are back. As part of the festivities for the opening of her friends' new restaurant, Auntie has invited students from two local martial-arts schools to compete in a Lion Dance contest. Kong, one of the competitors, is an angry, native-born Chinese teen who has no patience for Lily, who was born in the U.S. and speaks Chinese only haltingly. He has even less respect for Barry Fisher, the other contestant and the son of the restaurant owners. His mother is of Chinese descent, but his father is not. At the conclusion of the competition, an explosion injures both Barry and his brother. In addition, $2000 has been stolen, and sore loser Kong appears to be a prime suspect. Although prejudiced himself, Kong's teacher instructs his reluctant pupil to assist Auntie Lil and Lily in finding the thief. Yep does a fine job of weaving in lessons on Chinese culture and life in San Francisco's Chinatown as well as the need for racial and ethnic tolerance. As Lily and Kong work together to solve the crime, she begins to understand what lies behind his arrogance and anger. Kong also finds that he has misjudged Lily. Yep's style is entertaining, and the pace of the story moves quickly enough to sustain interest. Fans of lighthearted mysteries will enjoy this book.
Roxanne Burg, Thousand Oaks Library, CA

From Booklist
Gr. 4^-6. In the second installment in Yep's Chinatown Mystery series, Lily and her great aunt Tiger Lil, a Chinese American movie star turned public-relations guru, have been enlisted to help friends who are opening a restaurant. Unfortunately, opening day festivities go awry when the Lion Dance competition ends in angry words and punches and someone steals money earmarked for charity by rigging an explosion. Was it Kong, the angry martial-arts student; Leonard, the vituperative uncle with the gambling habit; or Bernie, the restaurant's helpful "waitron" ? Yep makes San Francisco's Chinatown more than a simple backdrop here, working in some sense of cultural conflicts within a diverse community as he guides readers through a twisting plot that combines some nice humorous bits with some competently manipulated suspense and some interesting red herrings. Stephanie Zvirin

Review Accessed at:

http://www.amazon.com/Case-Lion-Dance-Chinatown-Mystery/dp/0064405532/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-2916387-4513423?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1183845416&sr=1-1

E. Connections

Other books for young people by Laurence Yep.

· Child of the Owl: Golden Mountain Chronicles: 1965 (Golden Mountain Chronicles). ISBN 006440336X

· Dragon's Gate (Golden Mountain Chronicles, 1867). ISBN 0064404897

· Mountain Light: Golden Mountain Chronicles: 1855 (Golden Mountain Chronicles). ISBN 0064406679