Rereading Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

Far away from here, following the Jade River, there was once a black mountain that cut into the sky like a jagged piece of rough metal. The villagers called it Fruitless Mountain because nothing grew on it and birds and animals did not rest there.


Though a really easy book, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is well worth reading and has many "positive messages." Minli is a young girl in China who lives near Fruitless Mountain, where there is barely any food. But Minli's father tells her about the Old Man of the Moon, who is all-knowing. She decides to find the Old Man of the Moon and ask him to help her bring good fortune to her family. As she goes, she meets many strange friends: a dragon, a talking fish, a buffalo herd boy, and a king, but also many adversaries. Finally, Minli learns something at the end of her journey. The book has a great moral, and is also beautiful. It has a nice cover and some color illustrations which were very effective to the story. I also loved how different myths/tales that Minli hears from various people along the way were included; some were real Chinese stories.

Read Where the Mountain Meets the Moon:

• if you like fantasy
• if you like folktales
• if you are interested in Chinese folklore

279 pages.

Very Good! I would recommend this book!