A Dragon Child: Reflections of a Daughter of Annam in America is the story of a Vietnamese Catholic raised within the structure of the French colonial system. Her upbringing was somewhat privileged as the daughter of a provincial administrator in the central highlands of Vietnam. As a child, and later as a young woman, she embraced French culture and aspired to French ideals. She was educated at a French boarding school for the children of the elite. Subsequently she received a degree in French teaching from the University of Saigon and became a lycee teacher and administrator. In 1975, she left on one of the last military planes accompanied by her four children and entered a new life as a refugee in the U.S. She ultimately resettled in Western Massachusetts. She then went back to school and obtained her Ph.D. in Francophone literature. After seeing to her children's education she began her academic career and started to teach French in the Five College academic community. She has fulfilled the "American dream" as have her children. In the process she has rediscovered her cultural roots and has helped others to negotiate the same path.

Asian American literature dates back to the close of the 19th century, and during the years following World War II it significantly expanded in volume and diversity. Monumental in scope, this encyclopedia surveys Asian American literature from its origins through 2007. Included are more than 270 alphabetically arranged entries on writers, major works, significant historical events, and important terms and concepts. Thus the encyclopedia gives special attention to the historical, social, cultural, and legal contexts surrounding Asian American literature and central to the Asian American experience. Each entry is written by an expert contributor and cites works for further reading, and the encyclopedia closes with a selected, general bibliography of essential print and electronic resources. While literature students will value this encyclopedia as a guide to writings by Asian Americans, the encyclopedia also supports the social studies curriculum by helping students use literature to learn about Asian American history and culture, as it pertains to writers from a host of Asian ethnic and cultural backgrounds, including Afghans, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Filipinos, Iranians, Indians, Vietnamese, Hawaiians, and other Asian Pacific Islanders. The encyclopedia supports the literature curriculum by helping students learn more about Asian American literature. In addition, it supports the social studies curriculum by helping students learn about the Asian American historical and cultural experience.

Riveting stories by refugees who fled Vietnam.

A Dragon Child: Reflections of a Daughter of Annam in America is the story of a Vietnamese Catholic raised within the structure of the French colonial system. Her upbringing was somewhat privileged as the daughter of a provincial administrator in the central highlands of Vietnam. As a child, and later as a young woman, she embraced French culture and aspired to French ideals. She was educated at a French boarding school for the children of the elite. Subsequently she received a degree in French teaching from the University of Saigon and became a lycee teacher and administrator. In 1975, she left on one of the last military planes accompanied by her four children and entered a new life as a refugee in the U.S. She ultimately resettled in Western Massachusetts. She then went back to school and obtained her Ph.D. in Francophone literature. After seeing to her children's education she began her academic career and started to teach French in the Five College academic community. She has fulfilled the "American dream" as have her children. In the process she has rediscovered her cultural roots and has helped others to negotiate the same path.

As we all know, there is a kind of lazy pleasure in useless and out-of-the-way erudition-The compilation and translation of this volume have given us a great deal of such pleasure; we hope the reader will share some of the fun we felt when ransacking the