Library Intern Book Reviews
Publisher
Henry Holt and Company
City
New York, New York, United States of America
Date of Publication
2023
ISBN
9781250820587
Date of Review
2024
Disciplines
Library and Information Science | Modern Literature
Keywords
Children's literature, dragons, family, multicultural, mythical
Recommended Citation
Faulkner, Maddie, "Review of The Truth About Dragons by Julie Leung" (2024). Library Intern Book Reviews. 413.
https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/intern_book_reviews/413
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Review
The Truth About Dragons explores the weight of a multicultural identity through a mother’s story about dragons to her son. The mother describes how her “bao bei” must go on a journey to discover the truth about dragons. His journey will begin by traversing through the forests of Arthurian legend, avoiding mischievous trolls and luminous wisps along the way. His first stop is at a wise old woman’s house which smells strongly of “sugar cookies and apple cider.” The woman describes dragons as fearsome beasts who live underground guarding hordes of treasure from greedy knights. After this house, the young boy could journey further into bamboo forests, guided by the nine-tailed fox and a beautiful moon spirit. The boy would then arrive at another wise old woman’s house, which smells this time of “incense and jasmine rice.” This woman describes dragons as “majestic creatures of air.” Rather than living in caves, these dragons “rule the skies and rivers,” and make the “rain to fall.” The mother gently reminds her son that while many will tell him he “cannot travel more than one path,” there resides within him a place “where the two forests meet” in his heart, both of which are his “to discover.” In this story, Leung deftly illustrates the reality of being raised in a multicultural family by utilizing Western and Eastern depictions of dragons. By making the boy’s grandmothers the “wise old women” in the story, Leung is able to depict the relevance of both a Western and Eastern identity. This would be especially useful for parents who have a child with two or more cultural identities within their family that are looking for ways to integrate both forms of heritage into their child’s life.
Highly Recommended Maddie Faulkner, Centennial Library Intern, Cedarville University