More than a Newbery?

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Minli, whose father fills her heart & head with stories and whose mother is bitter about their poor village life, sets off to find the Old Man of the Moon and change her family's fortune. She finds talking goldfish, a dragon, a kind buffalo boy, a king, an evil tiger--she finds herself living in a story of her own. Folktales within a folktale, plucky and clever heroine whose heart is pure--when I closed the pages, I found myself thinking that it was a good book, but not a Newbery. The message is too clear.
That's what my head thought.
I find I must disagree with myself. The story lives outside the pages, evidence of a truly magical book. Maybe it's a Newbery, maybe it's better than a Newbery. It's a wonderful story to read aloud, the stories within the stories are good, it's beautifully illustrated--and it lives outside the pages, in the heart. There is more than one message where the mountain meets the moon.
Changed from 4 stars to 5. Highly recommended.

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