The Last Dragon

New York: Clarion Books, 1995. First edition, first printing (full number line). Oblong quarto in light blue multicolored DJ, unpaged (about 20-30 p), color illus; 24 x 29 cm. Medium-sized tear to DJ protected in archival mylar sleeve, extremely light rubbing to spine head & foot & folds, barely rubbed corners, else near fine(-) in very good DJ. Hardcover. ISBN: 0395670209

While spending the summer in Chinatown with his great-aunt, a young boy finds an old ten-man dragon in a shop and gets a number of people to help him repair it. An old ten-man dragon in a Chinatown shop window turns Peter Chang's summer visit to Great Aunt, which he had been dreading, into an exciting adventure. The Last Dragon's silk is faded and torn, and its eyes are gone, but Peter finds people willing to help restore the dragon to life-Great Aunt's mahjongg friends, a tailor, a kite maker, a street artist-and learns his way around the neighborhood at the same time. The banquet that honors the dragon's return to its full glory and marks the end of Peter's visit is also a celebration of Chinatown's unique culture. Chris K. Soentpiet's exquisitely detailed watercolor paintings are filled with the energy and color of the busy streets and shops of Chinatown. Chinese Americans; Juvenile fiction.