Customer Reviews

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

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This is a beautifully written fable for people of all ages, not just those in grades 3-6. I just finished reading this story to my five year old. I think I may have gotten more from it than she did but she was enraptured as we read three chapters ever night for the last few weeks.

Minli is a girl whose family is very poor. Her mother is embittered about their lack of fortune while her father tries to cheer the family up with fanciful tales. All day the three work in the rice fields and eek out just enough from the harvest to provide one bowl of rice each night. Determined to change their fortune, Minli sets out to find the Old Man of the Moon. Old Man of the Moon holds the book of fortune and can not only tell the future, but also change the future.

As Minli journeys to find Never Ending Mountain, the home of Old Man of the Moon, she is joined by a flightless dragon who has lived for years upon years in the forest, hiding and alone. Along the way, Minli meets and hears the fortunes of the very rich and the very poor until she learns an important lesson about herself, her family, and their fortune. While Minli is away, Ma and Ba have to come to terms with Minli's absence.

About every other chapter, there is a Chinese fairy tale told by one of the characters (never Minli though). Each one of these stories are interwoven with each other like the tangled strings of Fortune that Old Man of the Moon ties to the figures on the earth.

There are many good "teachable moments" in the story from each encounter than Minli has in her journey and enough food for thought that adults who read it will come away satiated.

While I loved that it had Asian aspects to it, I hope that it will not deter others from reading it because Minli's adventure is one for any culture.

Minli lived with her parents in a small village, in the shadow of Fruitless Mountain. The family - indeed, the whole village - was desperately poor. Minli's mother bemoaned their threadbare clothes and scanty food. But her father, even though gray and overworked, cheered up every evening when he told Minli one of the Chinese folktales that delighted her. Some of her favorite stories were about the Old Man of the Moon, who lived on the Never-Ending Mountain, and knew everything.

When a goldfish seller came to the village, Minli was enchanted by the cheerful, bright fish, so different from the gray and brown world that she lived in every day. On an impulse, she spent one of her two copper coins, and bought a goldfish to bring fortune to her home.

Minli's mother was not happy with the goldfish. They had barely enough to eat; how could they feed a pet? After her father gave up a few grains of his precious dinner rice to feed the fish, Minli realized what the sacrifice would be to feed it, so she sadly released her goldfish into the river.

To her surprise, the grateful goldfish told Minli how to find the Never-Ending Mountain of her father's folktales. There, she could ask the Old Man of the Moon how to bring good fortune to their house. So Minli set off on a journey to find the Never-Ending Mountains. Along the way, she met a dragon who couldn't fly, and other mythical characters who taught and helped her on her journey.

Interwoven with Minli's story are wonderful stories written in Chinese folktale style. These stories, told by Minli's father, become both the backdrop and the framework for the story of Minli's adventures on her journey.

Overall, a lovely, lyrical book, written for ages 8-12, but more widely enjoyable. A parent or teacher would find joy in reading this book aloud to younger children, who also would be fascinated with Minli's magical journey.

Quickly, get this book while you can. And while you are at it, buy one for a gift for every child you know. A true classic.

I just finished reading this book to my six year old daughter. We enjoyed it so very much. We had been reading a few chapters a night and of course had to do 10 at one time last night so we could find out what happened. She was full of oohs and ahhhs, gasps and sighs. Parts of this book have become allegory for us...she will turn to me and say "this is just like Minli when...". I know this book will become a classic in our family and my daughters will read it to their daughters.

When an author wants to write their first fantasy novel for children, they'll sometimes fall back on the books they themselves loved as kids. If they were Alice in Wonderland fans they might go the route of Neil Gaiman's Coraline. If they were partial to The Wizard of Oz they could do as Salman Rushdie did when he wrote Haroun and the Sea of Stories. As Grace Lin explains in her Author's Note to "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon", some of the books she read at eleven were dozens upon dozens of Chinese folktale and fairytale stories. With her customary cleverness Lin has now taken the essence of those tales and woven them into a quest novel that is a mix of contemporary smart girl pizzazz and the feel of a classic that your parents were read as children. If there's any author out there today with the potential of being remembered and beloved 100 years down the line, Grace Lin has my vote.

Poor in the valley of Fruitless Mountain, young Minli and her family earn their daily rice by working and scraping in the fields near their home. Her sole joy comes at night when her father tells her wonderful stories of far away places. One day Minli buys a goldfish to improve her fortunes, but when her mother sees her "foolish" purchase, Minli frees the fish and sets it in the river. Little does she suspect that this single act will give her the impetus to seek her family's fortune by leaving to find the Old Man of the Moon. Along the way Minli makes friends and outwits foes in her attempt to help not just herself but those she loves and cares about.

The aforementioned "Haroun and the Sea of Stories" was the book I kept thinking about when I was reading, "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon". Like Lin's novel, Rushdie attempted to reawaken that feeling you get when you read a quest novel where disparate characters band together and become friends along the way. The thing is, Lin has been cleverer than Rushdie here. While his novel was essentially an Oz redux, Lin's world combines old stories and classic myths to come up with something that seems entirely new. The feel of this book has similarities to Oz, in that you feel you are in a safe space when you read this tale. Small children will not be frightened when this is read to them while older kids will relate to Minli and understand what makes her want to run away.

In Lin's previous (and younger) novels for kids (The Year of the Dog, The Year of the Rat) she breaks up the text regularly with stories that are pertinent to the action, as well as wonderful little vignettes. While doing so, she impresses you with her writing. Phrases stick in a person's brain, like "The forest was full of shapes and shadows and only barely could he see the faint footprints on the ground - it was like searching for a wrinkle in a flower petal." Lin also conjures up visuals. In one village, each villager cuts a bit of cloth from their own clothes to provide Minli with a warm coat. When she leaves, she waves goodbye. "As she watched the sea of ruined sleeves flutter at her, she realized it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen." And she has so perfectly incorporated real legends and fables too. Generally Lin's interpretations of the tales sound like her own inventions. Only once in a while do you get a glimpse of the old tale behind her words. When the Old Man of the Moon changes a man's fate by turning the number 19 into 91 with a simple flick of a brush, one can assume he's not doing it to numbers as we see them, but as a reader you simply do not care.

One of the other remarkable things about the book is that the story isn't just Minli's journey we're watching but the emotional journey of her mother. From scraping harpy into loving appreciative person, we see this change come about thanks to her grief. How many quest tales can you think about where you cut between the protagonist and their healthy relatives at home? Even if it happens, the relatives are usually in some kind of dire straits. Not here. The biggest problems dealt with in these passages is the loneliness of the parents. And for some kids, this will be a relief. To know that the parents are still safe and sound. To see how much they care for their absent daughter, even while she's off having adventures. There's a kind of tacit understanding at work here. No matter how far you go, your parents will still be back at your home waiting for you. No matter what.

Lin has always been an artist, so it's little surprise that she has illustrated this book. What is new is that the pictures aren't the usual pen and ink spot illustrations. Little Brown shelled out some cold hard cash to make sure that each picture in this book is lush and lovely. While still recognizably her style, the art in this book is not as young as her work on, say, Lissy's Friends or Where on Earth is My Bagel? There's a sophistication here that we've never seen before. For example, the initial view of Fruitless Mountain keeps a finger on what is kid-friendly, but also hints at the history of Chinese art and design at the same time. And in the text there are spot illustrations true, but even these are colorful. My sole regret is how small the book is. Someday it would be nice to see this title in a full lap-sized edition for easier reading. The better to appreciate the pictures, I think.

Sometimes it's just nice to read something to your kids that's beautiful. Holding "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" is like holding a small treasure. A little piece of art. A graceful departure from the younger books she has done before, Lin mixes great writing with even greater kid-appeal and comes up with a story that everyone can enjoy. Boys and girls, kids and parents, everyone will like what they find here. How many books can you say that of off the top of your head?

Ages 7-12.

I don't typically write reviews but this book was an exceptional piece of children's literature that I hope makes its way into many more households. Grace Lin's newest book, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, has done something that very few books have been able to do in our household - hold the rapt attention of both my children from beginning to end. Each night our family would reach a few chapters of this book before bedtime. It immediately captured our imagination and held onto it. My children (and I) loved to look at the beautiful color illustrations that Grace has interspersed throughout the book. Her writing is incredibly descriptive and pulls you into the story. Many others have already written about the synopsis of this book so I will not go into that. I will say that this book was so beloved by my 8 year old that she begged me to buy copies for her teachers so that she could share this book with them in hopes that they will be able to share it with others. As a parent, how could I want anything else from a book? Thank you Grace Lin!

I absolutely adored this book. It is written for a younger audience, but the story and the myths and the way they weave together is incredible. I would recommend this book to any age. Little ones will be delighted if it is read to them. Older will enjoy reading it themselves. Us older folk will escape to a country and a time and learn several lessons along the way. All guaranteed to be painless.

My seven year old devoured this book in a single day last weekend, and has been talking about Minli since. After finishing the book, she has been realizing the intricate connections between all the characters and stories woven into this book - we've had wonderful discussions on it the past couple of days. Grace Lin has immense talent.

great book. i am 11 (a pretty advanced reader if i can say so my self but think any age would love it. anyone under 9 would enjoy it but not really understand. grace lin wrote a winner! hoped this review helped you agewise.

I thought this book was one of the best children's books I've ever read. I am an elementary school teacher and after I read this book over the summer I decided to read it as a read aloud to my 5th grade class. They loved it as much as I did. The folk tales intertwined in the story add a wonderful dimension to the book and the theme of gratitude is something we all need to remember. It appealed to both the boys and girls in my classroom. I also had my two older daughters read it (ages 15 and 13) and they enjoyed it as well. The book is wonderfully written and has beautiful illustrations. ENJOY!

This book is the most beautiful story I've ever read! My girls (6 & 8) and I read it aloud each night before bed and we all LOVED it! It has so many great stories and morals to learn. This is a MUST HAVE for your family's library!!!