Dragonwings features the Chinese American experience in the United States, specifically San Francisco, shortly after the turn of the twentieth century.

Moon Shadow grew up in China, having never seen his father, who had traveled to "The Golden Mountain" in America and worked hard in a family laundry which served the "white demons" (Americans).

Moon Shadow supported and encouraged Windrider, even as they suffered hardships like the Great Earthquake, their poverty, and the gap between the Tang and white demons (Americans).

Part of the story is based on an actual event that took place in 1909 involving a young Chinese flier named Fung Joe Guey.

It won an International Reading Association Children's Book Award and it made School Library Journal and The New York Times annual booklists.

[4] Dragonwings and Dragon's Gate were runners-up for the Newbery Medal; Child of the Owl won the Horn Book Award.