Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

In the corner of which Fruitless Mountain and the Jade river meets, there is a village. It is a very poor village, as the land near Fruitless Mountain is very hard to grow with. The villagers had to work very hard to get anything to grow. And that is why the whole village is a shade of brown. In that very poor village there was a shack that looked as if it were quote, 'a bunch of matches tied with piece of twine.' In the house there was barely enough room for three people to sit at a table together. And that is where Minli lived with her parents, Ma and Ba. Minli has glossy black hair and pink cheeks, shining eyes, and a fast smile. That was the way in which she was different from everyone in the village. Her name meant quick thinking. That name suited her well. One thing about Minli is that she always wishes to find some way to make them richer.

Ba tells Minli a story every night, something that she loves. Every time he tells her the story about Fruitless Mountain, she wants to bring the four great rivers to the mountain, to make the Jade Dragon happy. She wants to make Fruitless Mountain green again. But everyone says that that is a question she has to ask the Old Man of the Moon, who lives on top of Never-Ending Mountain. 

Then a goldfish man comes to the village, selling goldfish. He says they will bring good fortune into their home if they buy one. Minli can't resist. She pays for it with one of her own two coins, the only coins the whole family has. But her parents are disappointed, especially Ma. So Minli lets the fish go. She feels bad that she spent half their money on just another mouth to feed. Minli is surprised when the fish tells her how to get to Never-Ending Mountain. 

Minli decides to journey to Never-Ending Mountain. 

She leaves a note to her parents and leaves in the middle of the night. 

Throughout the journey, Minli meets a dragon that can't fly. They become friends.

She meets a boy with a water buffalo. He tells her where to go to get to the Inner City. 

She gets a borrowed line from the king. Dragon gets another borrowed line from the stone lions. 

They meet Da and A Fu. They survive the Green Tiger. 

Minli meets the Old Man of the Moon. But he will only answer one question. Minli has more than one question, though! Which one should she ask? 

Join Minli on her fun journey, of which is not very dangerous, but which is long. Grace Lin has crafted a very fun book with a easily-loved character, full of short little chapters. 

I can easily tell you that I enjoyed the slow and easy, but exciting enough for you to automatically root for Minli, called Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin.

- Maria

Poor Ella

Ella of Frell is cursed. It all started when she was a baby. Lucinda the fairy had come. Lucinda was known for her 'gifts'. Everyone thought the gifts were horrible, but Lucinda didn't. So when Ella didn't stop crying, Lucinda gave her the gift of obedience. Now Ella would have no choice but to obey everyone and anyone, no matter what they asked her to do. Horrible gift, huh? But Lucinda would not take it back. Ella had to live with it. Years later, Ella's mother dies from a sickness. Years after that, her father meets Dame Olga, Ella meets prince Charmont, and everything starts to go bad. Dame Olga's children, Olive and Hattie are horrid. Hattie figures out that Ella has to obey everything. But she doesn't know the whole truth; Ella's mother commanded her never to tell anyone about the curse. Then Hattie takes the necklace that Ella's mother gave to her and Ella hates her even more. Ella ends up having to go to finishing school with Olive and Hattie. There, she meets a girl that would be a great friend... but Hattie would command her to end the wonderful friendship. Ella runs away from finishing school instead of telling her friend that she won't be friends with her anymore. Through her whole life, Ella has tried to break her own curse. She's figured out how to delay her obeying, and other times she tries to resist it. But things began to get even harder then they were before. Ella meets some ogres (much to her horror), has to try to find Lucinda, and reject the prince's request for her to marry him. She doesn't want to put him in danger because of her curse, so she tries to resist the accidental command. During the main plot, there are so many subplots where she has to deal with all the commands. This story shows you how desperate she is, and you end up rooting for her. But here's the real question: does she break the curse on her own? Find out for yourself.

P.S. I'm serious: if I haven't been clear enough, or you would like some additional information, or if you think this review is too... all over the place, then just tell me. I'll answer questions in Questions And Answers.

- Maria