Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
Grace Lin (2009)
“A girl climbs a mountain to ask the Old Man of the Moon to change her family's fortune — and discovers that fortune was never what she thought it was.”
Short Summary
Minli lives with her parents in a poor village at the base of Fruitless Mountain. Her father tells stories of the Jade Dragon and the Old Man of the Moon who controls fortune. Believing she can change her family's luck, Minli sets out on a quest to find the Old Man of the Moon. Along the way, she befriends a dragon who cannot fly, encounters characters from her father's stories, and learns that fortune is not something given by the moon but something created by gratitude.
Detailed Summary
Minli lives in a barren village at the base of Fruitless Mountain in a landscape inspired by rural China. Her family is poor — her father, Ba, works the dry fields while her mother, Ma, worries about money. But Ba tells stories every night, tales of the Jade Dragon who created the land, the Old Man ...