The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906

Book came in perfect condition. Story was full of action. My 10 year old enjoyed it.

When I met with my top second grade reading group a few weeks ago, I introduced them to this book. Wow! They've been engrossed ever since. I give them a thought-provoking question to guide their reading and a quick writing assignment to go with it, such as "How do Henry and Chin feel about their fathers?" Their text-related answers are beginning to change as the characters react to the earthquake. My readers want to know everything they can about the famous San Francisco earthquake now. The author cleverly structured the story as a diary, with factual entries about the development of the quake inserted at crucial points. My readers are hooked on an exciting story with just enough facts about the earthquake to make them hungry for more.

Although this is a lower reading level then most of my students I chose it for science because it is important to read in every class (yes, even science and Math). I chose this book over a few that are for upper elementary because the story is interesting and the kids will not get stressed about reading a tough book.

Gemreat historical fiction book.

I highly recommend, The Earth Dragon Awakes! It is a great book that I used with my 4th graders during our informative/expository text unit. The author uses historical fiction to describe the 1906 San Francisco earthquake in an engaging way with plenty of figurative language and historical facts to make it more compelling. The book also highlights the political climate in Chinatown and how the Chinese were discriminated against during this crisis.

My son read this book to me without problem. It is well written and was enjoyable to read-- very descriptive writer! Packed full of true facts and historical points. The author even has an afterword where he points out the historical facts for the reader along with actual pictures from the 1906 earthquake. Kids even learn a little about the science of earthquakes and aftershocks. Chapters were often short in size which was perfect for a young reader.

We used this as an anchor text for our science curriculum on earthquakes. It is an easily accessible novel that uses some great imagery, a good history of the San Francisco Earthquake, and two families living through all the horrible events of that time. It also includes some good character growth of two young boys. Lots of references to true stories of the day. Simple enough for struggling students but enough good literary elements to challenge higher readers. Good class read.

The order was as it was stated in it's description. There was some distress to the book, but overall, well worth the purchase.