One look at the whimsical cover illlustration for Kao Kalia Yang's Yang Warriors, and you're pretty sure what it's going to be about: a band of plucky little kids who accomplish something marvelous amidst hilarity and hijinks.
Those illustrations by Billy Thao (in his debut) are just the right touch of leavening. As the story keeps you turning pages, you begin to see a darker side of the tale that Yang says "she carried inside of her for a long time."
