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