Is it hard to read?
No, the prose is direct and the story follows a linear path. The greater challenge is emotional: Danny’s concerns about school, dating and family unfold alongside racism and serious gang violence.
Fiction · Novel · Literary Fiction · Young Adult
Shadow of the Dragon
Reading facts
✓ Checked- Reading effort
- 33 / 100Moderate
- Length
- 320 pagesClarion Books · 1993
- Reading time
- 6 h 30 minat 50 pages an hour ·
- Pace
- Measured
- Emotional intensity
- 4 / 5
About 6 h 30 min · at 30 minutes a day, about 13 days
Estimated from the page count of this edition. Dense books can take longer than the estimate.
About the book
Sixteen-year-old Danny Vo wants to fit in at his Houston high school and date Tiffany Marie, while his grandmother expects him to honor Vietnamese family traditions. His cousin Sang Le, newly arrived after years in a reeducation camp in Vietnam, struggles at school and cannot find work, leaving him vulnerable to a Vietnamese street gang. Danny tries to help, even as Tiffany’s brother and his white supremacist gang threaten him.
Reader notes
The pace is deliberate, allowing room for family routines, Vietnamese customs and the strains of belonging to two cultures. Racism and serious gang violence run through the YA coming-of-age novel, alongside its everyday teenage concerns.
How it reads
- Writing style
- Direct
- Tone
- Tense · Earnest
- Structure
- Linear
- Driven by
- Character · Relationships
- Point of view
- Third person, limited
- Setting
- Houston, Texas
Reading complexity
- Writing
- 2 / 5
- Ideas
- 3 / 5
- Structure
- 2 / 5
- Background knowledge
- 1 / 5
About this profile
Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).
- Writing
- How much attention the sentences and language require.
- Ideas
- How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
- Structure
- How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
- Background knowledge
- Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
- Emotional intensity
- Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.
Themes
- Identity
- Belonging
- Family
- Coming of age
- Race and racism
- Migration and displacement
Content notes
- Violence
- Strong
- Sexual content
- None
- Swearing
- Mild
- Substance use
- Mild
- Abuse
- None
- Self-harm or suicide
- None
Questions readers ask
Is it fast-paced?
No, the pace is deliberate, making room for family routines, Vietnamese customs and Danny’s relationships. The tension comes from competing expectations and gang threats rather than constant action.
How strong is the violence?
Strong gang violence and racism run through the story, including threats from a white supremacist gang. These dangers sit alongside everyday teenage concerns, giving the coming-of-age story a tense, earnest tone.
How central are Vietnamese family traditions?
Vietnamese family traditions are central to Danny’s struggle to belong: his grandmother expects him to honor them while he wants to fit in at his Houston high school. Family routines and customs receive sustained attention alongside school and dating.
How long is it?
320 pages in the Clarion Books 1993 mass market paperback edition.
Which edition is shown here?
Clarion Books · 1993 · Mass market paperback. ISBN 9780152735326.
How long does it take to read Shadow of the Dragon?
About 6 hours 30 minutes at 50 pages an hour, based on the 320-page Clarion Books edition. Dense books can take longer.
About the author
Sherry Garland
Sherry Garland writes historical fiction that places young narrators inside periods of political upheaval. Her direct, descriptive prose often takes the form of a diary, letting public events emerge through domestic routines, family pressures, and close observation of local customs. In Valley of the Moon, an orphaned Mestizo servant records life on a Spanish ranch as Alta California passes into American control. A Line in the Sand similarly filters the conflict between Texas colonists and Mexico through twelve-year-old Lucinda Lawrence, whose account stays attentive to household hardship and ordinary details even as the struggle reaches her family.
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Edition and details
- Publisher
- Clarion Books
- Publication year
- 1993
- Format
- Mass market paperback
- Pages
- 320
- ISBN
- 9780152735326
- Edition language
- English
- Original language
- English
- First published
- 1993
- Genres and form
- Fiction · Novel · Literary Fiction · Young Adult · Literary fiction · Coming of age · Social novel
- Editions
- 1
- Languages
- 1 (English)