From Publishers Weekly
Lee's (I Once Was a Monkey) delicately told tale of hardship in 15th-century China joins the fates of a girl and an escaped slave. Mei Mei's betrothal is broken off when her father dies unexpectedly and her dowry is used for his funeral. Cast out by her cruel sister-in-law, Mei Mei eventually finds refuge with a village outcast called Po Po, a deformed old woman who sells dumplings made from bitter melons and shrimp. As they grow to trust each other, Po Po tells Mei Mei of her own misfortune an early accident maimed her and drove her fianc‚ to call off their marriage and teaches the girl to make the bitter dumplings. A slave serving the emperor's fleet which has landed in order to demand food from the villagers tastes Mei Mei's dumplings in amazement, then follows her home: "This village may be the home from which I was kidnapped as a child," he realizes. Po Po quickly perceives the attraction between the two young people, and reveals hidden treasures personal as well as material to ensure their happy future. Stark details of unrelenting want and plundering raids make this a tale for the stout-hearted, but the storytelling is highly polished and the artwork luminous. The eerie, strangely static watercolors are presented mostly as panels, as if to recall screen paintings. The limpid palette carefully balances contrasting colors to achieve, like the "bitter dumplings" of the story, unexpectedly harmonious results. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 2-5-In 15th-century China, living without the protection of her family could indeed be bitter for an unmarried woman. This historical adventure recounts the struggles and eventual triumph of two women cast out from their seaside village, living at the ocean's edge. After her father's death, motherless Mei Mei's older brothers appropriate her dowry and turn her out of the house. Desperate and starving, she begs food from Po Po, the grumpy old hunchback who sells bitter melon and shrimp dumplings at the village market. Po Po's grudging exchange of food and shelter for Mei Mei's help in preparing and selling dumplings evolves into friendship and then into love. When ships from the emperor's treasure fleet sail into the harbor, a handsome slave escapes and follows Mei Mei to Po Po's house. The old woman prevents his capture and offers the young couple her own dowry, hidden away for many years. Lee's large paintings, executed in harmonious, muted colors in her characteristic style, are steeped in the Chinese aesthetic. The art is best at depicting landscape: the restless sea and the windswept marshes at its edge. Generous in text, Lee's story seems ready to overflow the confines of a 32-page picture book, and the ending is rather abrupt. Yet this tale of two strong women realistically placed in the context of their times will certainly engage older picture-book listeners, inviting them to identify with characters who lived long ago and far away.
Margaret A. Chang, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North AdamsCopyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
