Unit+6+Dragonwings

=__Dragonwings__ by Laurence Yep=

In this historical novel about the pursuit of dreams, Moon Shadow is a young Chinese immigrant who comes to San Francisco at the turn of the century to join his father Windrider, whom he has never met. At first father and son live and work with relatives in the Chinese section of town, but when a man is killed and their lives are endangered, the two move out and make friends with a woman and her granddaughter. The four survive the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, but Moon Shadow and his father are forced to move again. With Moon Shadow's help, Windrider begins to pursue some of his long-held dreams.

toc [|1906 Earthquake Information]

=[|Vocabulary] for the unit=

Chapter Vocabulary
 * Chapter 1 ||  || Chapter 4 ||   || Chapter 8 ||   || Chapter 11  ||
 * Chapter 2 ||  || Chapter 5 ||   || Chapter 9 ||   || Chapter 12 ||
 * Chapter 3 ||  || Chapters 6 and 7 ||   ||  Chapter 10 ||   ||   ||   ||

=Lessons=
 * Chapter 1 ||  || Chapter 4 ||   || Chapter 8 The Wright Brothers ||   || Chapter 11 Conflict ||
 * Chapter 2 ||  || Chapter 5 ||   || Chapter 9 Earthquake ||   || Chapter 12 Character Traits ||
 * Chapter 3 ||  || Chapters 6 and 7 ||   || Chapter 10 Problem and Solution ||   ||   ||   ||

media type="custom" key="23546426" =**Characters**=


 * Moon Shadow**

Moon Shadow is an eight-year-old boy by Tang tradition when the novel opens. Moon Shadow lives in China, an area referred to in the book as the Middle Kingdom. Moon Shadow has never known his father because his father immigrated to America while his mother was pregnant with him in order to make money needed to pay off debts. This has caused the family to be without the strongest worker in the family and the emotional support of a kind and caring husband and father.

Moon Shadow is pleased when his father sends for him. Moon Shadow adjusts well to America, finding it to be a country very different from the scary tales told back in the Middle Kingdom. Moon Shadow makes friends with a young white girl and her aunt, a friendship that will prove to be a turning point in this child's life. Moon Shadow is strong, intelligent, and so considerate of his father that he lives in near exile for three years so that his father might live out his own dream. In the end however, Moon Shadow has a part in teaching his father that family is much more important than dreams.


 * Windrider**

Windrider is Moon Shadow's father. Windrider is a good man who once walked the wrong path. Early in his time in America Windrider belong to one of the gangs that blossomed in the Tang community during this time period. However, Windrider had a dream that convinced him he is a dragon being punished by living in a human's body. Windrider decides to devote his life to living like a dragon.

Windrider becomes distracted from his quest to be a dragon when his cousin, Black Dog, beats his son for the money he carried. Windrider vows to kill Black Dog, but kills several gang members instead. This forces Windrider to live in the white demon world, a world most Tang immigrants fear. Windrider, however, makes good friends with his white landlady as well as the famous inventors, the Wright Brothers.

In the end, Windrider has only two dreams, to fly and to see his wife again. Windrider chooses to give up one for the other, devoting himself to building a flying machine. Everyone who loves Windrider supports his choice, but some caution that he is making a mistake. Windrider does build his machine and he does fly, but he also comes to realize that his family means more.


 * Hand Clap**

Hand Clap is a distant relative of Windrider who is a part of the Company that Uncle Bright Star runs in San Francisco. Hand Clap came back to the Middle Kingdom for a time, but found it so different than his memories that he decides to go back to America. Hand Clap is asked to bring Moon Shadow with him, so it is Hand Clap who accompanies Moon Shadow across the ocean to America.


 * Uncle Bright Star**

Uncle Bright Star is an older man, somewhere in his eighties, who has been in America since the time when Tang men were used to build the railroads. Uncle Bright Star is the senior partner in the Company and he makes most of the decisions in regards to the partnerships and the safety of his people. Uncle Bright Star brought his own son, Black Dog, to America many years before only to watch him turn into a drug addict. Uncle Bright Star is deeply saddened by his son's life and behavior and he worries that he made a mistake bringing Black Dog over.

Uncle Bright Star becomes angry with Windrider each time he wants to leave the safety of the Company and go out into the demon world. The first time this happens, Uncle Bright Star and Windrider do not speak for nearly a year and the second time it last three years. However, Uncle Bright Star always comes around and helps Windrider out in every way he can.


 * Miss Whitlaw**

Miss Whitlaw is Windrider and Moon Shadow's landlady. Miss Whitlaw is the daughter of a man of some means, living in the same house her father built many, many years ago when Polk Street was still a wealthy neighborhood. Miss Whitlaw is no longer wealthy so she must take in boarders to help make ends meet.

Miss Whitlaw is a strong, caring woman who adopts Moon Shadow and Windrider into her family as though they were always meant to be there. Windrider finds himself grateful for Miss Whitlaw time and time again. In the end, it is Miss Whitlaw who orchestrates the events that save Windrider and Moon Shadow from homelessness.

Robin is Miss Whitlaw's niece. Robin's parents died and Miss Whitlaw has become her legal guardian. Robin is a precocious child, but she quickly wins over Moon Shadow and they become good friends. Robin shows Moon Shadow what it is like to be a child in America, teaching him skills he will need to survive in her world. More important, however, this friendship provides both children affection and support both need.
 * Robin**

Black Dog is Uncle Bright Star's son. Black Dog has seen terrible injustices in America against Tang people and he has become bitter as a result. Black Dog has also become an opium addict. As a result, Black Dog will steal, lie, and cheat to get his next fix, even if it means cheating family. Black Dog steals from Moon Shadow and is the catalyst that forces Windrider to leave the Company the first time. Black Dog is also the reason Windrider cannot pay his rent at the end of the book, leaving him destitute and forced to abandon his dream after three years of hard work. In the end, Black Dog is found murdered in Oakland before he was even able to spend Windrider's money.
 * Black Dog**

Lefty is a member of the Company. Lefty once had a terrible gambling problem. Once the problem got so bad that Lefty gambled away a ticket home to the Middle Kingdom. For this reason, Lefty chopped off his right hand to keep him from gambling and to remind him why.
 * Lefty**

White Deer is a member of the Company. White Deer is the cook and he makes the most amazing meals, most of which center around many different meat dishes. White Deer is kind of like the mother of the Company, caring for everyone, and mediating disputes.
 * White Deer**

When Moon Shadow comes to America, he leaves behind his mother. Moon Shadow's mother wants to be with her family, but there is not enough money to bring her to America or for Windrider and Moon Shadow to return to the Middle Kingdom. For this reason, the family is forced to remain apart. However, Windrider once promised his wife he would bring her to America to be with him, therefore he does all he can to do so. Unfortunately, Uncle Bright Star makes this difficult by refusing Windrider the paperwork he needs to bring his wife to America until the very end of the novel when Uncle Bright Star finally sees how important family really is.
 * Mother**

=**Themes**= This novel begins with Moon Shadow living in the Middle Kingdom with his mother without knowledge of the man who is his biological father. Moon Shadow knows stories his mother has told about his father, but he has never met him because the financial nature of their country has forced many of the men to move to America to make the money they need to support their families in the Middle Kingdom. It is a difficult situation made harder for Moon Shadow's mother when her husband arranges for the child to join him in America. Moon Shadow's mother is left the only person strong enough to work the farm, leaving her to struggle without the support of a man or a son around.
 * Family Separation and Devotion**

In America, Windrider desperately wants to bring his wife from the Middle Kingdom to America, but his uncle is afraid that bringing family to America will leave them changed and bitter like it has done to his own son. Uncle Bright Star blocks all attempts Windrider makes to bring his wife to America, leaving him with only one dream open to him. Winderider gives up the idea of ever seeing his wife again and devotes himself to building a flying machine. However, when the flying machine crashes, Windrider realizes that family is much more important. At the same time, Uncle Bright Star has come to the realization that not all Tang people become bitter by America and he allows Windrider what he needs to bring his wife to him.

America is a country that is famous for opening its borders to all types of people. This includes the original British citizens who came here to escape religious persecution, the blacks forced to come as slaves, and the Asians who came in a desperate need for money. The Tang people came to America to build railroads and work mines hoping they will make enough money to support their families back home. These cheaper workers took the jobs no one else wanted and some jobs that others might have demanded too much money to do. Many Tang went home injured or missing limbs, giving America a bad reputation.
 * Immigrants in a Strange Country**

When this novel opens, the Tang people have settled down in different areas, making lives for themselves in their own tightly knit communities. The hostility that they feel from the Americans, people they call demons, comes not only from a past filled with the tension of the jobs they did for so little money, but also from the fact that the Tang are different, speak differently, and have different customs. Often the white demons feel fear from their strange customs. This novel attempts to show the reader what it was like for these people, coming to a strange land only to face prejudice and misunderstanding.

This novel takes place before, during, and after the great earthquake of 1906. The main characters are caught in the middle of the quake, though they are one of the few lucky ones whose home remained standing. The main characters, Moon Shadow and his father, Windrider, spend the hours after the earthquake trying to save the survivors. While these immigrants who have every right to disregard the needs of the white people who often teased and bullied them are saving their neighbors, others are running away, taking what they can and worrying about their own lives.
 * Natural Disasters versus Human Nature**

Later, after the earthquake, the Tang people are forced to move from place to place at the whim of the American government until they finally have enough. None of the other ethnic groups in San Francisco are facing such circumstances. It seems that even in the face of disaster, the prejudices of some people run so deep that they cannot help but punish a people who are just as devastated as everyone else. In the end, the Tang get what they want, but it takes a fight to show the American government that they are a people worth the respect that all human beings deserve.

=**Point of View**= The novel is written in the first-person point of view. The narrator of this novel is Moon Shadow, a young Tang boy who immigrates to America and learns what it means not only to be a member of the Tang community, but to embrace the diversity of all those around him. Moon Shadow tells his story from the time he is eight until he is fifteen, but the reader gets the impression from certain statements Moon Shadow makes within the narration that he is telling the story from some point later in life, perhaps in adulthood.

The point of view of this novel is not unusual in modern bestselling fiction. The use of first person point of view is often limiting to the author, restricting the writer to events that only one character can see, touch, and feel. However, the author of this novel uses this point of view carefully, showing the story completely through Moon Shadow's eyes, including moments of unreliability as the small boy works out things that the reader might already understand and by having Moon Shadow remain like a shadow to the adults around him so that he can accurately report all events that are pertinent to the plot.

=**Setting**=

The novel begins in China, or the Middle Kingdom, where Moon Shadow is just a small boy when his father sends for him from America. The setting then shifts to San Francisco where Moon Shadow lives with his father in the area known in modern times as Chinatown. The family moves again, living on Polk Street, a street that was once prosperous but in 1905 has become a refuge to large tenements filled with poor families. Finally, the setting changes to Oakland where Moon Shadow and his father live for three years while attempting to build a flying machine like the one the Wright Brothers flew a few years before.

The setting in this novel shifts from chapter to chapter. The novel begins in the Middle Kingdom, a country where the economy is so bad that fathers often are forced to abandon their families in order to make a living in a foreign country. This setting is important because it establishes Moon Shadow as a recent immigrant, allowing the reader to feel his impressions of America are genuine. The setting then moves to San Francisco in the early decade of the twentieth century. The narrator describes the Chinatown of his time period, comparing it to the Chinatown of modern times in a way that stresses the Tang influence on the area. At the same time, the reader is introduced to San Francisco as it was in this same time period. All these settings are highly historical, but they are also familiar to the reader, giving the reader a sense of history that is both foreign and familiar.

=**Language and Meaning**=

The language of the novel is filled with words and descriptions that the reader might find confusing or deeply fascinating. The Tang people speak a language that is not familiar to the reader, therefore the author does not introduce too many of these words or phrases to the reader. However, the Tang people have traditions and idioms in their language that are passed on to the reader, presenting a view of America from a Tang immigrants point of view that is both offensive and understanding, a view that will make the reader think simply through their use of words and phrases.

The language of this novel is designed to both be easy for the reader to understand, but to express the differences in the thoughts and language of the Tang people to the Americans. The writer has established this in many ways, by pointing out differences between both cultures and by using words such as demons to describe the American people. The writer goes to extremes to help the reader see the world through Moon Shadow's eyes and by doing this he has created an authentic character that the reader will either hate from the beginning or will learn to love.

=**Structure**=

The novel is divided into twelve chapters, each with its own title and a date that allows the reader to know how much time will pass in the chapter. The novel is told in both dialogue and exposition with a great deal of the narration in a type of internal dialogue that includes musings from the narrator from the point of view of someone who has already lived through the events being described. The Tang people speak in a language different from English, therefore the author writes their words in normal script, but italicizes the English words and conversations presented in the novel, giving the impression that the entire novel is meant to be in the Tang language except for these foreign phrases.

The novel has one main plot and several subplots. The main plot is the story of a little boy who comes to America and learns to get by day by day by both keeping close to his own culture, but also embracing the culture of his new home. One subplot follows the relationship between Moon Shadow's father and the men of the company. Another subplot follows the actions of Black Dog, a Tang man with an opium addiction. Also included is a friendship that develops between Moon Shadow, his father, and their white landlady and her niece. All plots come to a satisfying conclusion at the end of the novel.

=Chapter Summaries=

Chapter 1
This chapter introduces the main character and part of the conflict that will drive the plot. Moon Shadow is a small boy whose father has lived in America since before he was born. Moon Shadow knows nothing of his father, but he admires the man his mother has illustrated for him through her stories. Moon Shadow's situation is not uncommon in the time period. China was a country that was unable to care for its own people at the time, so people went to America to make money to send home in order to pay the debts they left at home. This leaves many families separated and unable to rectify the situation because of a lack of money or because of the difficult rules of the immigration department in America.

Moon Shadow is called to go to America, a place he believes is an unfriendly and even dangerous place for Asians. In fact, Moon Shadow and his people call Americans demons because of the way they have treated the immigrants in the past. However, Moon Shadow is happy to go because he wants to be where his father is. The reader wonders, however, if Moon Shadow and his father will face the same struggles some of their ancestors have faced in America.

Chapter 2
In Chapter 2, Moon Shadow is taken to Chinatown, the section of San Francisco where the Tang people make their home. Here there is a building that belongs to the Company of the Peach Orchard Vow, the Company to which his father and Uncle Bright Star belong. The Company runs a laundry out of the first floor of the building and provides housing for its owners and workers upstairs. When they arrive, Moon Shadow meets the rest of the Company, which includes White Deer, Lefty, and Hand Clap. Over dinner, the group tells Moon Shadow about how his father was given a fake partnership in the Company in order to bring Moon Shadow to America, but Uncle Bright Star refuses to allow him to use the same method to bring Moon Shadow's mother over.

The members of the company give Moon Shadow several gifts, including clothing and shoes to wear. Windrider gives Moon Shadow a kite that he built himself. Then Windrider takes Moon Shadow up to the room they will share. Moon Shadow notices a great number of mechanical parts in his father's room.

Chapter 3
In Chapter 3, Moon Shadow has noted that the Company calls his father Windrider, a name his father did not use before coming to America. When Moon Shadow asks about it, his father tells him of a dream he had when he first came to America. In the dream, Windrider met the king of the dragons who told him he was once one of the greatest healing dragons, Windrider. The king asked Windrider to heal him and then told him how he was beheaded and sent to live as a human in punishment for attempting to blow out the fires of the world. The king takes Windrider on a flight through the dragon world and tells him he will face and be expected to pass several tests as a human in order to win the right to be a dragon again. Therefore, Windrider has vowed to live his life like a dragon even though many of his friends discount the dream as a fantasy.

Chapter 4
For the next year, Moon Shadow helps his father pick up and deliver the laundry they clean. Windrider speaks English the best among the men of the Company and therefore he is asked to deal with the demons the most often. At the same time, all the men of the Company work with Moon Shadow on not only learning English, but also to learn to read and write his own language. There is a school for the Tang children, but the school is inferior so Moon Shadow spends most of his time learning independently at home. During this first year as well, Moon Shadow learns that his grandfather was not just arbitrarily killed by a group of demons, but that he was killed because he fought back when a group of demons threatened to cut off his queue, his pony tail. Although the queue began as a method of oppression, it has sense become a symbol of honor to these men and most will fight to hold on to their queue such as Moon Shadow's grandfather did.

While picking up and delivering laundry, Moon Shadow and his father must interact with the demons. There is always great fear, especially among the young demons. Once, Windrider stopped and fixed a demons horseless carriage. This man seemed shocked by Windrider's ability, but he offers him a job afterward. Also during this time, Windrider sees the first article about the Wright Brothers' flying machine in an old magazine. This excites and inspires Windrider. However, Uncle Bright Star dismisses Windrider's desire to fly by saying that no man would ever fly. Uncle Bright Star is saddened at this time because his son, Black Dog, has become a dangerous drug addict. In fact, Black Dog disappears shortly after Windrider first sees the article on the flying machine. The men of the Company go in search of Black Dog. Windrider finds him being dragged out of an opium den by a gang member who wants to kill him for stealing from a prostitute. Windrider fakes the whistle of a cop and scares the men away so that he might take Black Dog home safely.

Uncle Bright Star tries to figure out how he'll pay back the money Black Dog stole. He claims that Whiskey Devil, the head of the Justices, owes him a favor from a while back, so he won't have to pay him that much. The Company all vote to share the cost with Uncle Bright Star, despite his grumbling. Windrider says that the Company is their family, too. It's not long before Black Dog's sourness and drug use returns. One month after Moon Shadow and Windrider bring him back, he returns to the Company stinking of opium.

Chapter 5
Since Moon Shadow is now the double digits of ten years old in demon time, he is assigned the role of collecting overdue bills in the Tang village. One day, while making rounds, he sees Black Dog. They have a short and sweet heart to heart, which involves Black Dog telling Moon Shadow the love story behind opium use. Black Dog resents having to work hard for other people's benefit overseas. Moon Shadow has hope that things will be better in next lives. Black Dog jerks Moon Shadow's queue and kicks at him with his boots. Black Dog steals Moon Shadow's money for collecting bills. Windrider is determined to avenge his son and get even with Black Dog.The rest of the Company think Windrider is bonkers, suggesting instead that they should leave the demon police or the Sleepers handle it. Windrider surprises them all with his conviction when he says that he's sick of dealing with "men who live off the misery of their brothers and sisters". He seems to be saying that working within the Man of the police and the Sleepers is really also participating within corrupt wheelings and dealings.Uncle urges him to reconsider, saying that Tang people should take care of themselves rather than running to the demon authorities. Windrider decides to go after Black Dog and the Sleepers himself, saying that dragons "protect their own brood". Uncle tells him he's a fool. It gets let out that Windrider was once a member of the Sleepers. The Company leaves Moon Shadow and Windrider alone in their room. Lefty guards their room outside with a club, ensuring that Windrider stays within its walls. Windrider quickly opens the door and K.O.s Lefty. When Moon Shadow hears his dad leaving, of course he runs after him. Moon Shadow follows his dad to Dupont Street, where Windrider goes to a door and asks for Water Fairy, a.k.a. Tiger General, the head of the Sleepers. The Tiger General obviously has a history with Windrider that we don't know about. The two of them exchange some words before Black Dog is brought out and challenged by Windrider to fight. Someone tosses Black Dog a sword so he's not unarmed. Black Dog fakes a hurt back and calls for a hidden guy to shoot Windrider. Moon Shadow quickly throws himself onto the man with the gun, saving his dad's life. Windrider and Black Dog have a sword duel. Windrider obviously kicks Black Dog's booty. Moon Shadow is busy with his own fight and is nearly killed before Windrider hatchets the almost-killer in his back. The Tiger General apologizes for the hidden fighters, insisting that the duel was to be between Windrider and Black Dog only. He dumps Black Dog on the street. The Tiger General advises Windrider to leave town for a while, especially since he's killed a man. When Moon Shadow awakes the next morning, Windrider has been out of the house. He has decided to leave the Tang people's area of town. He has gotten a job as a mechanic for Mr. Alger's apartments. Windrider and Moon Shadow will live with a "demoness" or American lady.

Chapter 6
Moon Shadow describes the poorer demons that hang out around Polk Street. He thinks the houses look like monsters with lots of windows for eyes.The wagon pulls up to a Victorian house. Moon Shadow is frightened when he is told to watch the wagon while Windrider and Hand Clap go inside.Hand Clap wishes Moon Shadow and Windrider well and prepares to go, but Red Rabbit waits for Windrider to get in. It's a bittersweet moment when Moon Shadow and Windrider watch Hand Clap and Red Rabbit slowly recede in the distance.Windrider and Moon Shadow go to the backyard stable, where Windrider immediately gets to work building shelves for the Company's gifts.The two go to the main house to visit their landlady, Miss Whitlaw. But first, Moon Shadow's a smelly kid, so Windrider gives him a crisp new shirt to wear. Moon Shadow complains that Miss Whitlaw is only a demon, why should he clean up? Windrider responds that Mother believes everyone should be treated with respect in case they were royalty in past lives.The father and son meet Miss Whitlaw, the first demoness Moon Shadow has seen up close. Moon Shadow expects her to look like a Miyazaki villain of sorts, but finds her to be pleasant.Windrider and Moon Shadow present Miss Whitlaw with a picture of the Stove King, a messenger to the Lord of Heaven who Tang people bribe with tasty foods so he'll report good things about the families.Miss Whitlaw invites Windrider to tea and Moon Shadow to gingerbread cookies and milk. Moon Shadow is suspicious of the milk, mistaking it for cow's urine. He is all about the gingerbread cookies, however, and eats all of them.Throughout this introduction to Miss Whitlaw, Windrider and Moon Shadow alternate between Mandarin and English, with the English designated by italics in the book.A crash at the door announces Miss Whitlaw's niece, Robin, who moved in when her parents died. Robin is the first demon child Moon Shadow has been so close to. Robin is spying at the door, and Miss Whitlaw reprimands her.Moon Shadow is busy checking out Robin's red hair and gingham dress when he notices her toy gadget, the stereopticon. He looks through the lenses and is shocked to find himself looking at Niagara Falls.They all move to the parlor room. The room has a slide projector, travel books, and other knick knacks that imply Miss Whitlaw's love for travel.Moon Shadow admires the stained glass window featured in the parlor. The window depicts a dragon, which Miss Whitlaw describes as evil creatures that St. George killed. Moon Shadow is stunned that the demoness's idea of dragons is so negative and clearly misguided. He wants Windrider to correct her, but Father says it's rude to correct a host.Robin begins playing the piano, the first that Moon Shadow has seen of its kind. Miss Whitlaw takes the bench and plays "Simple Gifts" upon Robin's request. Moon Shadow is impressed by the way Miss Whitlaw plays and sings.The sun's glow through the stained glass mixed with the overall encounter with the demoness makes Moon Shadow wish his mother were with him.When Moon Shadow and Windrider return to their stable, Moon Shadow shares some theories about Miss Whitlaw being a Tang person in a former life, or being the ghost of a Tang woman.Moon Shadow falls asleep considering the notion that he and Miss Whitlaw were maybe even mother and son in a previous life. He decides that she deserves to know about dragons, if so.

Chapter 7
Moon Shadow's schedule at the stable is not too different than it was before in the Tang village. He goes into the Tang people's town in the morning or early afternoon to buy goods. He works every day but Sunday.Every day Windrider allows Moon Shadow one half hour of recreation. One day Moon Shadow decides to use this time to pay Miss Whitlaw a visit.Miss Whitlaw offers Moon Shadow cookies and milk. Moon Shadow presents jasmine tea to her as a gift, which she eventually accepts.Moon Shadow is appalled when Miss Whitlaw almost puts milk and sugar into the jasmine tea. He stops her just in time.The packaging of the tea has a dragon on it that Miss Whitlaw comments on as beautiful.Moon Shadow tries to explain that dragons can also be great creatures, not only the mischievous ones that the demons seem to know.There's a knock at the door and both Moon Shadow and Miss Whitlaw realize that he has gone over his half hour time. Father appears, stern.We learn that Miss Whitlaw has five elderly boarders in her home.Moon Shadow has a bad encounter with the neighborhood demon boys one day when he's taking out the trash. There's this one especially obnoxious boy with brown hair and freckles.The boys jeer at Moon Shadow, chanting a cruel rhyme. When Moon Shadow tries to defend himself, they make fun of his English. So, naturally, Moon Shadow curses them out in Chinese.The boys throw vegetables, garbage, and stones at Moon Shadow.Moon Shadow keeps the incident from his father, afraid that it'll make them move back under the control of the Sleepers.Moon Shadow stays indoors when his father is gone, afraid to meet the boys' meanness again. Windrider comes home with a black eye, saying some Tang men tried to rob him in Mr. Alger's building. He is proud to say that he won the fight.Moon Shadow is especially skittish when he's using the water pump outside, so afraid that he usually runs back and empties half of the water bucket.Robin notices Moon Shadow acting in this anxious way and brings buckets of vegetables to peel outside to keep him company. But she doesn't outright tell him that. She instead badgers him with questions, like why is he so afraid of the water pump?Miss Whitlaw catches Robin pestering Moon Shadow and chastises her.To prove to Robin that he is not afraid, Moon Shadow joins her by the water pump.Windrider spends half an hour each day reading aeronautical books to Moon Shadow. They figure out the ratios to build a model glider together.Windrider and Moon Shadow walk to the sand dunes in San Francisco on Windrider's day off. Robin follows them.They test run the glider. Windrider immediately knows what to work on for the next version.Robin is impressed with Moon Shadow's English when it comes to all things plane-related.Robin goes to their stable to see the airplane books. She wants to see the books from which Moon Shadow got the dragon stories. Moon Shadow explains that he didn't get the stories from books. He says that dragons could be all around and teeny tiny.Robin tells Moon Shadow that she is from Missouri by way of excusing her stubbornness.Robin shares her books by E. Nesbit with Moon Shadow. She also brings along dime novels, which she borrows from the girl next door, Maisie.Robin and Miss Whitlaw give Moon Shadow reading and writing lessons with these books. Moon Shadow's particularly into the dime novels. Who doesn't like smut?Moon Shadow shares his memories of home with the ladies. Their relationship gets closer and Moon Shadow is convinced they were close in a previous life.Things aren't going so great for his father, so Moon Shadow takes things into his own hands and writes a letter to the Wright brothers with Miss Whitlaw's help.Two weeks later, Moon Shadow gets a letter from Orville Wright that includes diagrams and charts about airplane stuff.Windrider is upset with Moon Shadow when he learns that his son asked for help from the Wright brothers and Miss Whitlaw. He worries that Moon Shadow told Miss Whitlaw about his dream. He crumples up the letter.Miss Whitlaw comforts Moon Shadow and continues the comparison of Windrider to a dragon (7.165).The next morning, Windrider has flattened out the crumpled letters and is examining them. He asks Moon Shadow to write another letter to the Wright brothers, okaying Miss Whitlaw's help.

Chapter 12
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