Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

By Grace Lin

1. Bibliography

Lin, Grace. 2009. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. New York, NY: Little Brown and Company. ISBN 9780316038638.

2.  Plot Summary

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is a fantasy novel about a young girl named Minli who lives in a village in the Valley of Fruitless Mountain.  Minli’s family and village are very poor and the people work hard all day in order to produce enough rice to support their families.  Many of the people in her village are tired, worn out, and sad.  However Minli is happy and has a bright spirit because her father tells her stories every night.  He tells her the tale of how Fruitless Mountain got its name and the story of the Old Man in the Moon. The old man in the moon is portrayed as a wise man that brings people together and can change a person’s fate.  Minli’s Ma thinks the stories Ba tells are rubbish and often complains about how poor they are.  One day a man selling lucky fish comes to Minli’s village.  Minli believes that if she buys a fish maybe it will bring them luck and make Ma happy.  She takes one of her coins and buys a fish.  Ma is very upset and complains that the fish is just another mouth to feed, so Minli decides to take the fish and release it into the river.  The fish turns out to be a magical fish and tells Minli where to find the Old Man in the Moon.  Minli believes if she finds him she can ask him how to increase her families’ fortune.

Minli sneaks out of her house and sets off on a journey to find the Old Man in the Moon, who lives on the top of Never Ending Mountain.  Throughout Minli’s journey she makes many friends that help her along the way.  One of her new friends is a dragon that cannot fly and decides to go with her to speak with the Old Man in the Moon.  They face many dangers together from wild monkeys to an evil green tiger and make a lot of friends that help them reach their destination.  As Minli travels she continues to hear tales of the Old Man in The Moon, dragons, and the life of a wealthy magistrate who decided to defying the Old Man in the Moon by taking fate into his own hands.  The folktales Minli hears turn out to be true and show how ones actions and outlook on life can often lead to a good or bad fate.  This exciting tale is also filled with beautiful illustrations that add to the rich descriptions of the people, places, and stories that Minli hears.   

3. Critical Analysis

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is an exciting and adventurous tale of a young girl named Minli who decides to run away from home in order to find the Old Man in the Moon.  She believes if she finds him she can ask him how to change her families’ fortune.   Minli makes many friends along the way that help her on her quest; such as a talking fish, a dragon, a boy with a buffalo, a powerful King, and two adorable twins named Da-Fu and A-Fu.  One of Minli’s good friends is a dragon who cannot fly and together they face many challenges, from wild monkey’s to an evil green dragon. 

The author Grace Lin weaves many beautiful tales of the Old Man in the Moon, the Jade Dragon and the Green Dragon or evil Magistrate throughout the story of Minli’s journey to find the Old Man in the Moon.  As Minli gets closer and closer to finding the Old Man in the Moon the folktale like stories began to come together like pieces in a puzzle.  The tales that Minli hears are very old and she finds out that they are true.  The author shows the reader how the actions of the characters in these tales have directly influenced the current fate of many of the characters in the story that Minli meets. 

Grace Lin uses short chapters, rich descriptions, and easy to read text and vocabulary to create the charming story of Minli’s quest to change her families fortune.  Lin portrays the themes and ideas of changing one’s fate, how ones attitude or outlook can affect their life, and the concept of understanding what’s really important in life throughout the story. The theme of changing one’s fate is most evident in the tales of the Green Dragon and the Old Man in the Moon.  Lin weaves a tale of how the Green Dragon or evil Magistrate tries to out smart the Man in the Moon who has told him that his son will marry a grocer’s daughter.  The Magistrate has the grocer’s family killed so that his son is free to marry someone else.  As the tale unfolds we learn that the women with whom his son marries is an orphan who was adopted by one of the emperor’s grandchildren.  We find out that it was the same woman that the Magistrates son was fated to marry.  Minli and her parents also learn a powerful lesson in this story.  That changing ones fortune or having a big fortune is not what will make them happy; its being with their loved ones and enjoying and being grateful for what they have that’s important. 

I loved the adventurous plotline, the charming characters, and exciting folktales that were weaved throughout this story.  The magical elements such as dragons, talking fish, and the Old Man in the Moon were unnatural but believable and added greatly to the mystery of the plotline.  This book is for reader’s ages nine and up.  It has some complex words and the folk like tales mixed in with the plot line could be confusing for younger readers. 

 

4. Review Excerpts

2010 Newbery Honor
NY Times Bestseller (Feb 4th, March 14th 2010)
IndieBound Bestseller
2010 Bank Street College of Education Josette Frank Award
2010 Indies Choice Book Awards Finalist For Middle Reader Book of the Year
Al Roker's TODAY Show Kid's Book Club Pick, December 2009
2010 Mythopeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature
Booklist Top 10 SF/Fantasy for Youth:2009
2009 Parents' Choice Gold Winner
2010 CCBC Choices List
2010 EB White Read-Aloud Honor Book
2010 Massachusetts Book Award for Children/Young Adult Literature

School Library Journal Starred Review-Gr 3-6 Living in the shadow of the Fruitless Mountain, Minli and her parents spend their days working in the rice fields, barely growing enough to feed themselves. Every night, Minli's father tells her stories about the Jade Dragon that keeps the mountain bare, the greedy and mean Magistrate Tiger, and the Old Man of the Moon who holds everyone's destiny. Determined to change her family's fortune, Minli sets out to find the Old Man of the Moon, urged on by a talking goldfish who gives her clues to complete her journey. Along the way she makes new friends including a flightless dragon and an orphan and proves her resourcefulness when she tricks a group of greedy monkeys and gets help from a king. Interwoven with Minli's quest are tales told by her father and by those she meets on the way. While these tales are original to Lin, many characters, settings, and themes are taken from traditional Chinese folklore. The author's writing is elegant, and her full-color illustrations are stunning. Minli's determination to help her family, as well as the grief her parents feel at her absence, is compelling and thoroughly human. Jennifer Rothschild, Prince George's County Memorial Library System, Oxon Hill, MD

Booklist Starred Review- In this enchanted and enchanting adventure, Minli, whose name means “quick thinking,” lives with her desperately poor parents at the confluence of Fruitless Mountain and the Jade River. While her mother worries and complains about their lot, her father brightens their evenings with storytelling. One day, after a goldfish salesman promises that his wares will bring good luck, Minli spends one of her only two coins in an effort to help her family. After her mother ridicules what she believes to be a foolish purchase, Minli sets out to find the Old Man of the Moon, who, it is told, may impart the true secret to good fortune. Along the way, she finds excitement, danger, humor, magic, and wisdom, and she befriends a flightless dragon, a talking fish, and other companions and helpmates in her quest. With beautiful language, Lin creates a strong, memorable heroine and a mystical land. 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. Children will embrace this accessible, timeless story about the evil of greed and the joy of gratitude. Lin’s own full-color drawings open each chapter. Grades 3-6. --Andrew Medlar

5. Connections

Minli and her parents learn a valuable lesson in the book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.  As a class discuss what lessons Minli learns and her parents learn.  Ask the students what they believe the Green Dragon or Magistrate should have learned from his mistakes and discuss your answers?

This is a writing prompt to use with your class.  Imagine you have traveled to speak with the Old Man in the Moon.  What wish would you ask him for if you could pick one wish?  It must be a good wish that will benefit your family or the world.  Write a paragraph about what you would ask the Old Man in the Moon for and why. 

In the book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, the main character Minli hears many tales that are based on real Chinese folktales.  As a class read other Chinese folktales and talk about common elements if any that are found in many of the folktales. 

Chinese Fairy Tales and Fantasies Translated and Edited by Moss Roberts ISBN: 9780394739946

The Dragon Emperor: A Chinese Folktale Retold by Wang Ping ISBN: 9780822567448

Kingdom retold by Shelley Fu, Illustrations by Patrick Yee ISBN: 9780804838078

Tales of a Chinese Grandmother: 30 Traditional Tales from China by Frances Carpenter and Malthe Hasselriis ISBN: 9780804834094

Treasury of Chinese Folk Tales: Beloved Myths and Legends from the Middle

The Weaving of a Dream Retold by Marilee Heyer ISBN: 9780140505283

This is Grace Lin’s website where you can find more information about her and other books she has written to share with the students.

http://www.gracelin.com/content.php?page=wherethemountainmeetsthemoon