
Author: Grace Lin
Genre: Childrens
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 288
Date read: March, 2010
In the valley of Fruitless mountain, a young girl named Minli lives in a ramshackle hut with her parents. In the evenings, her father regales her with old folktales of the Jade Dragon and the Old Man on the Moon, who knows the answers to all of life's questions. Inspired by these stories, Minli sets off on an extraordinary journey to find the Old Man on the Moon to ask him how she can change her family's fortune. She encounters an assorted cast of characters and magical creatures along the way, including a flightless dragon who accompanies her on her quest for the ultimate answer.
Very sweet book for children. It has many similarities to "The Wizard of Oz" and will probably attract much the same audience. I did think that all the included Chinese folktales made it more interesting though, as I'm not terribly familiar with that culture, but terribly fascinated by it.
A charming story. No great page-turner, but it'll probably be good for reading aloud.