Monday, January 31, 2011

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin (Audio book review)

In the valley of Fruitless mountain, a young girl named Minli lives in a ramshackle hut with her parents. In the evenings, her father regales her with old folktales of the Jade Dragon and the Old Man on the Moon, who knows the answers to all of life's questions. Inspired by these stories, Minli sets off on an extraordinary journey to find the Old Man on the Moon to ask him how she can change her family's fortune. She encounters an assorted cast of characters and magical creatures along the way, including a dragon who accompanies her on her quest for the ultimate answer. - from Goodreads

Janet Song is the perfect narrator for this story. Her voice is soothing and has a twinge of an Asian accent to it which helps with making the story feel authentic. However, despite Song's beautiful narration, I do not entirely recommend solely listening to the story without following along with the actual book.The formatting of the book itself along with the stunning, colorful illustrations is part of the whole experience of the story and should not be missed.  

Grace Lin weaves Chinese folktales into Minli's journey, making the book feel like a novel told in short stories.  As someone who's not a fan of short stories, this was the only part of the book I did not enjoy. I really liked following Minli on her quest to find the Old Man on the Moon, but the adding of the folktales into the story didn't excite or interest me as much.  


Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
Published: June 2009 by Little, Brown Young Readers (Audio book: February 2010 by Books on Tape)
Pages: 288 (audio book: 4 hours, 56 minutes)
Genre: fantasy
Audience: middle grade



2 comments:

  1. This audiobook sounds so good- I love it when a reader really brings the story to life!- but definitely agree that the print book is not to be missed. Grace Lin sells signed illustrations from the book on Etsy! I'm dying to get one for my kids.

    About the book itself: I was a little less enthused about the folk tale parts of the story in the beginning, too, but I totally loved it when Lin wove everything together and I realized the folk tales were part of Minli's story. Ahh, now I want to read it again!

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  2. I'll have to check this one out. Thanks for linking up!

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