If you like Chinese folktales, you will love this book. I'm not a huge fan of fables and folklore, but this one is so well told, that it will top my recommendation list this year.
Minli, a young girl who lives with her parents in the shadow of Fruitless Mountain, works hard in the rice fields each day. Her parents work even harder, but they barely have enough food to feed themselves. To distract them from their poverty, Minli's father spends much of their spare time in the evenings telling Minli stories about the Old Man of the Moon who holds everyone's destiny, the Jade Dragon that keeps the mountain from growing food, and the mean, greedy Magistrate Tiger.
One day, Minli meets a mysterious goldish salesman who swears his fish will bring people good luck. Hoping to save her parents from hard work and poverty, Minli spends one of her last two coins on a goldfish. What results is a magical journey that takes Minli up to the top of Neverending Mountain, where she hopes to meet the Old Man of the Moon, the only one with the power to change her fortune.
I really liked how the author Grace Lin wove various folk tales into her story, first through the character of Minli's father and then through other wonderful characters that Minli meets along the way. Not only are the individual stories entertaining, but they also directly tie into the way Minli solves her own dilemma. In other words, there's a big payoff at the end.
An entertaining and heartwarming book, I will definitely recommend it to my sixth graders next year, but I think anyone who enjoys a lively folktale will want to pick this one up.
Showing posts with label book review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book review. Show all posts
Friday, June 18, 2010
Monday, May 31, 2010
Book Review: THE COMET'S CURSE by Dom Testa
When a comet streaks past Earth and leaves behind a deadly disease that affects anyone over the age of 18, a group of young teens must board a ship and head to a new planet to save the human race from extinction.
I like the premise by Dom Testa's YA sci-fi novel. His storytelling is pretty straightforward, and the novel builds nicely to a climax.
I first became aware of this book while at the IRA (International Reading Association) Convention last month. Testa was speaking at the convention about sci-fi novels; unfortunately, I missed his presentation since I was attending only on Monday, and his talk was on Wednesday. Now that I've read his book, I'm really sorry I missed his talk.
When I first started writing Alex Jones, I had to do a market analysis for my writing teacher. This means checking out other similar books that are already published to make sure my book idea isn't too similar to other books already out there. At the time I started my novel, I could find only two books that really took place on the moon: M.T. Anderson's Feed and Paula Danziger's This Place Has No Atmosphere. Neither of them are very similar to my story.
Testa's novel, however, does possess some similarities to mine, which is why I really would have liked attending his session at the IRA Convention. Both of our stories involve teens (although his are slightly older than mine), and both of them involve new civilizations outside planet Earth (his on a ship headed for another planet and mine on the moon). Interestingly, his ship and my moon colony have similarities. Both have recreations facilities, dining halls, and computers that control just about everything.
One thing I really liked about Testa's book is that the chapters alternate between what's happening on the ship and what happened back on Earth that led up to sending off a ship with 251 teenagers on it to start a new civilization on a planet five years away. By the end of the book, what was happening on the ship dovetailed nicely with what was happening back on Earth.
The book is part of a series (called the Galahad series), so I'll be interested in seeing what happens next. I'd recommend this book to any student who likes sci-fi stories with strong teenage protagonists.
I like the premise by Dom Testa's YA sci-fi novel. His storytelling is pretty straightforward, and the novel builds nicely to a climax.
I first became aware of this book while at the IRA (International Reading Association) Convention last month. Testa was speaking at the convention about sci-fi novels; unfortunately, I missed his presentation since I was attending only on Monday, and his talk was on Wednesday. Now that I've read his book, I'm really sorry I missed his talk.
When I first started writing Alex Jones, I had to do a market analysis for my writing teacher. This means checking out other similar books that are already published to make sure my book idea isn't too similar to other books already out there. At the time I started my novel, I could find only two books that really took place on the moon: M.T. Anderson's Feed and Paula Danziger's This Place Has No Atmosphere. Neither of them are very similar to my story.
Testa's novel, however, does possess some similarities to mine, which is why I really would have liked attending his session at the IRA Convention. Both of our stories involve teens (although his are slightly older than mine), and both of them involve new civilizations outside planet Earth (his on a ship headed for another planet and mine on the moon). Interestingly, his ship and my moon colony have similarities. Both have recreations facilities, dining halls, and computers that control just about everything.
One thing I really liked about Testa's book is that the chapters alternate between what's happening on the ship and what happened back on Earth that led up to sending off a ship with 251 teenagers on it to start a new civilization on a planet five years away. By the end of the book, what was happening on the ship dovetailed nicely with what was happening back on Earth.
The book is part of a series (called the Galahad series), so I'll be interested in seeing what happens next. I'd recommend this book to any student who likes sci-fi stories with strong teenage protagonists.
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