Lin, Grace. (2009). Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. New York: Little, Brown. ISBN: 978-0329-776237.
Brief plot summary:
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is a fantasy novel about a young girl, Minli. She lives with her parents near Fruitless Mountain, in a poor village. Her father, full of stories, and her mother, full of bitterness, inadvertently give Minli the idea to search for the Old Man of the Moon to ask how to change her family’s fortune. During her search, she meets many people (and creatures) and learns a few invaluable lessons.
Critical analyses:
*Newbery Honor*
Overall impression: A great adventure, beautifully woven with ancient Chinese folktales.
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is rich with Chinese culture and values. It is full of fantastic and mythical creatures from ancient Chinese tales, making it categorized as a fantasy novel, but like most fiction stories, there is quite a bit of truth in it as well. Before choosing this book to read and review, I read a few reviews on it and noticed that the reviews kept mentioning the use of Chinese folktales throughout the story. I was not fully sure what this meant until reading the book myself, so I’ll try to explain. The story, written in third person, begins with introducing Minli, her family, and the setting in which they all live (“The villagers called it Fruitless Mountain because nothing grew on it and birds and animals did not rest there”). Lin states that Minli’s father (Ba) enjoys telling stories and then suddenly Minli is begging him to tell the story of Fruitless Mountain. The page then shows a title, in this case “The Story of Fruitless Mountain” in a beautiful colored font, two small picture icons on each side of the title, and then the story is told in a fancy (er) font. (I hope all that made sense, but you should read the book and find out for yourself anyway!). Moving on now.
The beginning of each chapter features a small image of an event or character that will be in that chapter, in various colors of ink (chapter one is red, chapter two is purple, etc.). Also throughout the novel are full page images depicting scenes from the story. The beautifully crafted illustrations portray the characters and the setting in a realistic, non stereotypical way. Each character is unique and is drawn (or painted? I’m not sure) with careful details. It is implied that the setting takes place in the past (pre-1900s), so the physical traits are accurately representative of Chinese individuals, their clothing, and styles during this time period.
The story, as mentioned above, is a mixture of regular narrative and Chinese folktales. The format is unique and flows well, neither disrupting nor distracting to the reader, and it shows readers the importance of folktales in the Chinese culture. The themes from both the tales and Minli’s personal story include love, good and evil, friendship, courage, perseverance, happiness/acceptance, and fate (to name a few) all of which are culturally pluralistic. “The traditional cultural values... of the Chinese people are harmony, benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom, honesty, loyalty, and filial piety” (Lihua, 2013). Lin incorporates some of these values through the many characters, but the story as a whole is relatable to everyone, Chinese descendant or not.
Review excerpts:
“Stories, drawn from a rich history of Chinese folktales, weave throughout her narrative, deepening the sense of both the characters and the setting and smoothly furthering the plot.”
--Booklist (Starred Review), 2009
“Lin deftly incorporates elements from Chinese folk- and fairy tales to create stories within the main story and provide context for Minli’s quest.”
--Kirkus, 2009
“Song carries the listener to a mystical land where listeners will cheer Minli on her quest and root for her to be reunited with her parents.”
--Audiofile, 2010
Connections (related books, activities, children’s responses, etc.):
Related readings: all of the ancient Chinese folktale books Lin lists in the back of the book
Activities: discuss folktales and how they differ from culture to culture, also could discuss importance of knowing one’s culture- Lin talks about her childhood and how she didn’t want to know about her Chinese heritage but it is extremely important to her now as an adult
Also Grace Lin’s website has great info about the book: http://gracelin.com/content.php?page=wherethemountainmeetsthemoon&display=behind_the_story
References:
Lihua, Z. (2013, November 21). China's Traditional Cultural Values and National Identity. Retrieved November 12, 2015, from http://carnegietsinghua.org/publications/?fa=53613
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