DRAGON HOUSE

Vietnam has seen much upheaval since the fall of Saigon, and this story is born out of the continuing struggle. The characters are all dysfunctional in some way and adversely affected by the modern world, especially the children who live on the streets and attempt to carve out a survival-level existence, at times necessitating less-than-enviable partnerships. Jenny Ikeda, a native English speaker who has a talent for Asian speech patterns, is a refreshing choice to bridge the gap between the American and Vietnamese speakers. Shors keeps the characters to a minimum so as not to overcomplicate the plot. However, outside of the interesting vignettes of Vietnamese life, the book doesn’t offer the reader anything new in the way of themes or plot resolution. S.M.M. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2010]