The Dragon, The Phoenix, and The Ashes: A Story of Escape, Resilience, and Reconciliation

In Chinese mythology, the dragon and the phoenix are animals that symbolize balance. They are opposite celestial beings bound together, representing power and grace, fierceness and beauty, completing what the other cannot fulfill. The book Sunlight Playing over a Mountain by Selena Li Bi gives these symbols a deeply personal meaning, shaping the fragile, shifting world of Jasmine Cheng, our protagonist, and her mother, where they must chase a sense of belonging and stability across ever-changing terrains. 

The book first introduces us to Jasmine Cheng, a 15-year-old Filipino-Chinese girl growing up in a small town called Briarplace in the Midwest. Her whole life is steeped in a myth. Her mother, Suchou, tells her that the two of them are the dragon and the phoenix, celestial beings who descend from the moon, and that her father is Pangu, the creator of the universe. Her mother’s grandiose myths are her escape from the mourning pressures of Jasmine’s reality- an absent father, an irresponsible and unreliable mother, and the ever-looming presence of being taken away from her mother through Child Protective Services, something she refers to as the “Keeper.” As her mother drifts in and out of her opium-dream world, cycling through boyfriends and herbal remedies, Jasmine is left to fend for herself, caught between devotion and disillusionment.

Li Bi’s hypnotic writing blurs myth and reality, capturing Jasmine’s inner turmoil as she grapples with her mother’s neglect and the harsh truth of their circumstances. As an Asian-American girl forced into caretaking, Jasmine clings to her mother despite the constant neglect, yearning for love and stability that never truly comes. Her identity as an Asian-American instills a strong sense of filial piety that often overrides her needs; furthermore, at school, she is shunned and bullied because of her race by her peers. Trapped between resentment and longing, her story highlights the painful reality of children forced to grow up too soon, bound by love to parents who cannot assume the responsibility to care for them.

The dragon and the phoenix appear repeatedly throughout the book, especially during moments of tension between Jasmine and her mother, almost as a failed attempt to mend their broken relationship. Through these symbols, the novel explores how both characters must transform— Jasmine starts off as a fierce dragon constantly throwing herself headfirst into all her obstacles, but must embrace the phoenix’s resilience to overcome adversity. On the contrary, her mother, once a phoenix known for its beauty and spiraling change, must learn to break herself free from the cycle of neglect and fight for the safety and wellbeing of her daughter.

However, for all its brilliance, Sunlight Playing over a Mountain leaves certain shadows unexplored and left in the dark. Cal, an ex-boyfriend of Jasmine’s mother, has a frustratingly vague relationship with Jasmine’s mother; the only thing that is revealed is his desire to create a family with Jasmine and her mother. Also, the addition of Jasmine’s romantic interests seem abruptly rushed with little to no development and seem to be a side story and have no real effect on her development as a character. 

Still, what Sunlight Playing over a Mountain lacks in detail, it makes up for in emotional resonance. It is a book about the myths we weave to survive, the pain of seeing those myths unravel, and the strength it takes to pick up the broken shards and rebuild our story. Like the title, Sunlight Playing over a Mountain, the book constantly reminds us to overcome any obstacles that are thrown our way. The sunlight prompts us to the new beginnings that are out in the horizon waiting for us, and the mountain reminds us of the obstacles we must climb to reach the horizon. This book leaves us a strong message to encourage us to overcome our obstacles to see the peeking sunlight that rises over the mountain.

Sunlight Playing Over a Mountain is out April 1, 2025.

Lead photo: Cover of Sunlight Playing Over a Mountain from Soho Press Inc.

This article was written on special assignment through the TeenTix Press Corps. The TeenTix Press Corps promotes critical thinking, communication, and information literacy through criticism and journalism practice for teens. For more information about the Press Corps program see HERE.