编辑推荐
适读人群 :8岁及以上 Grades 4-7--Laurence Yep's Newbery Honor book (HarperCollins, 1975) offers insights into the lives of Chinese-Americans in early 20th century California. The story begins as eight-year-old Moon Shadow Lee journeys across the Pacific to join his proud and clever father at the family-owned laundry in San Francisco. The boy recounts their problems with prejudice, as well as the kindness of uncles and cousins. Father and son must leave the protection of the family to move out of Chinatown, but they find refuge with a generous and friendly landlady. Once they have successfully established a repair business, they turn their attention to making a flying machine. Though it's a modern invention, part of their motivation is the elder's belief in his own previous dragon existence. Yep draws heavily on his own heritage, but also includes figures such as Teddy Roosevelt and the Wright Brothers, and historic events such as the San Francisco Earthquake. The result is a heartwarming story set in a familiar time and place, but told from a new perspective. The quiet intensity of B. D. Wong's narration enriches the text as he creates memorable voices for a large cast of characters. Wafting, ethereal music signals the end of each side of the cassette, and the cover art is attractive. The only problem is the lightweight cardboard package, which is not sturdy enough for heavy circulation. That shouldn't deter libraries from purchasing this fine recording which will provide upper elementary and middle school listeners with lessons in history, and a gentle reminder of the value of a loving family and loyal friends.
内容简介
Moon shadow is eight years old when he sails from China to join his father, Windrider, in America. Windrider lives in San Francisco and makes his living doing laundry. Father and son have never met.
But Moon Shadow grows to love and respect his father and to believe in his wonderful dream. And Windrider, with Moon Shadow's help is willing to endure the mockery of the other Chinese, the poverty, the separation from his wife and country'even the great earthquake'to make his dream come true.
1976 Newbery Honor Book
Notable Children's Books of 1971–1975 (ALA)
1976 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award Honor Book for Fiction
1976 Fanfare Honor List (The Horn Book)
"Best of the Best" Children's Books 1966–1978 (SLJ)
Outstanding Children's Books of 1975 (NYT)
1976 Children's Book Award (IRA)
Children's Choices for 1976 (IRA/CBC)
Notable 1975 Children's Trade Books in Social Studies (NCSS/CBC)
1976 Carter G. Woodson Award (NCSS)
1976 Jane Addams Children's Book Award Honor Book
1979 Lewis Carroll Shelf Award
Children's Books of 1975 (Library of Congress)
1979 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)
1995 Phoenix Award (Children's Literature Association)
作者简介
Laurence Yep is the acclaimed author of more than sixty books for young people and a winner of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award. His illustrious list of novels includes the Newbery Honor Books Dragonwings and Dragon's Gate; The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, a Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee; and The Dragon's Child: A Story of Angel Island, which he cowrote with his niece, Dr. Kathleen S. Yep, and was named a New York Public Library's "One Hundred Titles for Reading and Sharing" and a Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book.
Mr. Yep grew up in San Francisco, where he was born. He attended Marquette University, graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz, and received his PhD from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He lives in Pacific Grove, California, with his wife, the writer Joanne Ryder.
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精彩书评
"A Chinese immigrant and his son build a flying machine in an unusual historical novel, unique in its perspective of the Chinese in America and its portrayal of early 20th-century San Francisco, including the Earthquake, from an immigrant's viewpoint."
--School Library Journal
"A fine, sensitive novel written with grace in a way that conveys the Chinese American's cultural heritage."
--"Booklist"
"A triumph."
--The New York Times
前言/序言
驭风者的传说:一个关于勇气、友谊与远古秘密的史诗 书名:《风之信使:艾瑟利亚的呼唤》 作者: 莉安娜·凡·德·海登 装帧: 精装(硬壳,附送丝带书签) 适合年龄: 10岁及以上(深度主题探讨,适合喜欢复杂叙事和世界构建的读者) --- 卷一:低语之地的阴影 在世界的尽头,群山如巨人的脊骨般刺破云霄,那里坐落着被遗忘的国度——艾瑟利亚。这是一个被古老魔法和严苛传统所束缚的地方。在这里,天空并非只属于飞鸟,而是被一个神秘的、被称为“驭风者”的阶层所掌控。他们骑乘着世代相传的、拥有智慧的巨大空中生物,维护着王国脆弱的平衡。 故事始于一座高耸入云的堡垒,天空之城“奥瑞恩”。我们的主角,卡莱布·凡·洛克,是一个十六岁的少年,他并非出身于驭风者的显赫家族。他的父亲曾是一名技艺精湛的飞船匠人,却在一场突如其来的风暴中丧生,留下卡莱布和一位沉默寡言的妹妹,以及一个关于“不应被触碰的技术”的秘密。 卡莱布的梦想,与他身边所有同龄人一样,是参加“升空试炼”,获得属于自己的翼兽伙伴。然而,命运似乎对他关上了大门。他被分配到堡垒底层的“机械区”,从事维护那些老旧、笨重的蒸汽驱动飞艇的工作——那是被驭风者阶层蔑视为“粗鲁的低语”的技术。 艾瑟利亚正面临一场无声的危机。长久以来维系着天空之城漂浮力量的“以太核心”,正以一种无法解释的速度衰竭。驭风者议会对此讳莫如深,只是加紧了对资源的垄断和对下层民众的管控。恐惧在空气中凝结,人们开始抬头望天,眼中充满了不安而非敬畏。 卷二:失落的蓝图与禁忌的知识 在机械区的深处,卡莱布偶然发现了一份被尘封的、用罕见“月光墨水”书写的图纸残骸。这份图纸描绘的不是普通的飞艇,而是一种结合了机械学与生物能量的混合构造——“活体翼舟”。这与驭风者引以为傲的、纯粹依赖精神契约的翼兽截然不同。 这份发现将卡莱布卷入了一个危险的漩涡。他开始秘密修复父亲留下的工具箱,试图解读图纸中晦涩的符号。他很快意识到,他的父亲并非死于意外,而是因为接触到了可能颠覆艾瑟利亚权力结构的真相。 在探索的过程中,他遇到了薇拉,一位来自地表“迷雾之谷”的流浪学者。薇拉身负重伤,带着一本日记,记录了数个世纪前,人类如何与天空生物进行“互惠共生”,而非如今驭风者所宣扬的“绝对支配”。她指出,以太核心的衰竭,正是因为驭风者们过度抽取了翼兽的生命能量,造成了生态系统的崩塌。 卡莱布和薇拉被迫结盟。他们共同的目标是:在以太核心完全崩溃之前,找到传说中的“创世之源”——一个能够重新激活自然能量流动的远古遗迹。 卷三:追捕与抉择 卡莱布的秘密行动很快被“审判者”——驭风者议会的秘密警察——察觉。审判者的首领,执政官塞拉斯,是一个冷酷而强大的驭风者,他本人也骑乘着一头被深度改造、几乎失去自由意志的巨型风雕。塞拉斯视卡莱布的机械知识为对驭风者统治的亵渎,决心将其清除。 卡莱布和薇拉必须逃离奥瑞恩。在逃亡途中,他们利用卡莱布的机械天赋和薇拉对古老语法的理解,修复并启动了那艘“活体翼舟”的原型——一艘依靠精确的齿轮运作和生物导电材料驱动的、拥有自我适应能力的飞行器。 这次逃亡不仅仅是物理上的穿越,更是理念的碰撞。卡莱布必须决定:他要依靠他所厌恶的、充满弊端的机械力量,还是应该相信那看似虚无缥缈的精神契约?薇拉则不断提醒他,力量的本质不在于其形式,而在于使用者的意图。 卷四:大地之下的回音 他们的旅程将他们带入了艾瑟利亚的禁区:被永恒的雷暴笼罩的“无声之海”。在这里,他们遇到了最后一批拒绝被驯服的自由翼兽——那些被驭风者视为野蛮怪物的生物。 卡莱布首次以非征服者的姿态,向一头年轻、充满野性的迅捷龙鹰展示了自己修复其受伤翅膀的意图。他没有使用束缚,而是运用父亲的机械知识,设计出了一种辅助性的、可拆卸的“生物稳定器”。这次接触证明了,技术可以成为桥梁,而非枷锁。 在翼龙的帮助下,他们终于抵达了创世之源——一个位于地壳深处、被水晶环绕的巨大空间。但塞拉斯和他的追兵也如影随形。 终章:平衡的代价 最后的对决不是一场简单的力量比拼,而是一场关于控制与自由的哲学辩论。塞拉斯试图通过献祭卡莱布来安抚即将崩溃的以太核心,坚信只有绝对的秩序才能带来生存。 卡莱布没有选择摧毁核心,也没有选择完全依赖翼兽的力量。他利用活体翼舟的原理,设计了一种“能量中和回路”——一个能够平衡机械提取与自然回馈的系统。他向塞拉斯展示了,真正的力量源于共存,而非掠夺。 在卡莱布的努力下,创世之源重新启动,以太能量开始稳定地流向整个王国。塞拉斯的旧秩序随之瓦解,但他本人最终被自己的翼兽遗弃,因为那头生物感受到了他内心的腐败。 卡莱布和薇拉没有选择成为新的统治者。他们选择留在了地表,致力于重建人与自然、技术与魔法之间的信任。他们相信,艾瑟利亚的未来,将建立在理解和尊重差异的基础之上,而不是建立在任何一种单一的、至高无上的力量之上。这本书以一个开放的未来作结:风已经改变了方向,而驭风者的时代,正在向着一个更加复杂、也更加公平的“共生时代”过渡。 --- 本书主题深度探讨: 《风之信使:艾瑟利亚的呼唤》深入探讨了技术伦理、环境可持续性以及社会等级制度的弊端。它质疑了“自然即美德,技术即邪恶”的二元对立思维,主张通过理解和整合不同的知识体系(无论是古老的精神力量还是现代的机械智慧),才能达成真正的平衡。本书节奏紧凑,世界观宏大,充满了悬念和对读者逻辑思维的挑战。