It's 1903, and eight-year-old Moon Shadow has never met his father who lives in the far-off "Golden Mountains" of San Francisco. When Moon Shadow's uncle brings the boy from China to America, father and son are united at last. It's not, however, an instant bond or an easy connection. Moon Shadow and his father, Windrider, both face prejudice from the white San Franciscans and derision from their fellow Chinese immigrants for Windrider's dream of building a flying machine. But with new allies in unexpected places, the two might be able to achieve something great together. Set at the time of the great San Francisco earthquake, this coming-of-age novel integrates historical facts with Yep's own family heritage to offer a fresh perspective on immigrant experiences in the United States.

Will Windrider
take to the skies?

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.