Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor

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I enjoyed this book much more than I expected to. I have never been passionate about (any) Asian culture so I really appreciated the history and cultural lessons. The presentation of the plot through altered reality games was clever and well done. I’m sure it would grab any kid who is mostly focusing on playing such games. I’ve recommended it to my son.

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor | Rock The Boat Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor | Rock The Boat

Morgan, Lauren (12 May 2022). "11 exciting books for your kids' summer reading list". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved 26 June 2022. Big Bad: The Yellow Emperor, who is trying to unseal the portal and take over the world, uncaring of how many people or nations get destroyed in his wake, and who opposes the heroes at every turn. Every other antagonist in the story has good intentions and legitimate grievances with the Emperors, but the Yellow Emperor is doing it purely for power and control.

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Morph Weapon: Wu Zetian’s weapon can become a whip, then a hammer, and then a dagger due to a legend about her suggesting she’d use the three to tame an untameable stallion. BFS: Qin Shi Huang has the Tai'e sword, a ceremonial sword that's 1.62 m, or about 5'3". In life, it nearly got him killed in an assassination attempt because it was difficult to draw, but after he became a spirit those problems no longer apply. Zachary Ying is a 12-year-old boy whose mother fled China after the death of his father to escape a dangerous political situation. His now single mother was absolutely devoted to Zach, and did everything she could to provide for him, though this often meant working multiple jobs to keep their small family afloat. As a result of her busy schedule, and a desire to help Zach assimilate into western culture, Zach was raised without much knowledge of China's history, culture, or language. Despite that absence, he is often singled out for being the one Asian kid in school, and so does his best to distance himself from anything that might make him seem more other than he already feels. So when a strange boy of Asian descent approaches Zach in school and wants to tell Zach all about Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, Zach is standoffish and suspicious. Later during an unexpectedly hostile confrontation between the new boy, Simon, and Zach's so-called friends, Zach abruptly becomes aware that he is being possessed by the spirit of Qin Shi Huang, the legendary first emperor of China. Qin Shi Huang explains that this is possible because Zach is Qin Shi Huang's direct descendant, and that he needs Zach's help to help prevent a catastrophe that could destroy China and possibly the world. Without meaning to, Zach forcibly exorcises the spirit of Qin Shi Huang, and flees. Without a mortal host, Qin Shi Huang's spirit is almost forced to return to the spirit world, but realizes in time that Zach's AR Headset, his "XY Technologies Portal-lens", is sophisticated enough to act as a host, allowing Qin Shi Huang's spirit to remain on the mortal plane.

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor - Goodreads

Never My Fault: Qin Shi Huang blames Zachary for accidentally exorcising him, even though he was trying to kill a kid at the time. Zhao, Xiran Jay (10 May 2022). Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781665900706 . Retrieved 24 October 2021.

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I've beta'd an early version of this book and it is ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS. Xiran is hands down one of my favourite authors, and this book in particular is so freaking important. Not only it is an extremely fun read, but it will be such a fundamental book for so many second/third gen children who struggle with their identity. It also has so many interesting bits of Chinese history woven into the narration, without shying away from criticizing the current regime's treatment of minorities. It is such a bold, compelling book with extremely lovable characters - The First Emperor is, hands down, my favourite character. Like, in the universe. Xiran's portrayal of him is so spot on! a b "Winners of the 2022 CCBC Book Awards revealed". Quill & Quire. 30 September 2022 . Retrieved 30 September 2022.

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor Review: Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor, Xiran Jay Zhao's second novel, was released on 10 May 2022. [5] In an interview with CBC, Zhao highlighted their fascination with "genre crossovers". [6] Zhao stated that: Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao, Read by Neo Cihi". Literary Hub. 2022-05-26 . Retrieved 2022-06-26. Historical Hero Upgrade/ Historical Villain Upgrade: In-Universe. The spirits are based on legend, not fact, so even stories made up to smear their names or glorify them after the fact are true to them. The emperors often discuss murky parts of their legends and whether they really did something or not, but it doesn't matter: as long as people believe they did it, they will act like the people they're believed to be. Okay, so there are legends basically everyone in a culture knows. Like Americans and their Batman and George Washington. For us in China, it’s Qin Shi Huang and Tang Taizong. We all know who they are and the legendary stuff they did. Them being in the minds of so many people generation after generation is what makes their spirits so powerful.”Edutainment: Clearly inspired by the genre, as it's a story where a boy has to learn Chinese history and culture to increase his own magical power. Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for presenting me with an ARC of this book in exchange of a honest review. Deliberate Values Dissonance: Zachary is horrified when he learns about the atrocities that the emperors have committed, describing them as "basically supervillains". Qin Shi Huang fully admits to it, but points out that everyone around him was doing the same or worse. While it is still a middle grade book, it doesn't shy away from exploring heavier important themes and morally grey characters. I adore that about Xiran's writing. a b Singer, Jessica (29 August 2021). "BookTok's novel approach to books is helping Canadian authors, retailers attract new audiences". CBC News . Retrieved 11 May 2022.

Zachary Ying Series by Xiran Jay Zhao - Goodreads

Hello, I was NOT aware the main character was Muslim! What a wonderful surprise! This wasn't super heavy on Muslim rep or anything but it was nice to see it included! Growing up, Zachary Ying never really had the opportunity to learn about his Chinese heritage. Especially since Western schools don’t teach anything but Western history and myths. So, when he discovers that he was born to the be the host of the spirit of the First Emperor of China, he’s unprepared. Very unprepared. Morrissy, Kim (6 June 2022). "How DARLING in the FRANXX Inspired a New York Times Bestselling YA Novel". Anime News Network. News . Retrieved 9 June 2022. Tang Taizong and Wu Zetian are also very full of themselves. Qin Shi Huang notes in Tang Taizong's bio about how he considers himself a much better emperor than everyone else. My God, What Have I Done?: Despite all Qin Shi Huang's blustering and excuses, 2000 years of Character Development have done a number on him and there are a few things he sincerely regrets. The most important being his abuse of his own son. When Fusu confronts him, he is nothing but apologies and does not beg for himself, but for China.Interchangeable Asian Cultures: Given a twist. Zachary is Hui and Melissa is Miao, and both bemoan the fact that everyone seems to think that Chinese people are all Han. Cain and Abel: During his lifetime, Tang Taizong had his two brothers killed. note The Xuanwu Gate Incident, when Taizong killed his brothers in a coup to seize the throne, is divisive, but it's generally agreed that the two brothers planned to kill Taizong first because his military accomplishments outranked theirs. Hero Antagonist: A recurring theme is that nearly every spirit and enemy that the three have to fight their way through is someone who has a genuine grievance against the Emperors, especially Qin Shi Huang.