Not too long ago, Evie and I were looking for another chapter book to read before bed, and we fortunately ended up with Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin.

We first became fans of Grace Lin as an illustrator (“Round is a Mooncake“, “Red is a Dragon“, “The Seven Chinese Sisters“). However, it turns out her sister lives in our neighborhood, and we had the opportunity to meet her. “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon” had just been released, and received a Newberry Honor, and we just happened to be looking for a new book. It was kismet.

Evie and I both loved “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon”. It was a total change of pace from “Little House on the Prairie”. I had heard it described as “the Chinese Wizard of Oz”, and I have to say the description was pretty accurate. The story boils down to a young girl taking a journey to a wise man, meeting friends and having adventures along the way, only to discover she already had what she wanted.

Grace Lin talked about how she wanted to write an American take on Chinese story, and I think she really succeeded. The stories felt very authentically Asian, even though they involved things that probably would never really be in an authentic Asian folklore (independent young girls for starters). That’s probably why it was such a fantastic change of pace, and just what we were looking for.

Anyway, Evie predictably liked a story that involved a young girl and a dragon. She still talks about it now, even though we’ve read a few books since. I would definitely recommend it for kids, especially girls.

As a side note, in our house, we now call mini-wheats “Minli-wheats”.