Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin - ADVISABLE

Lin, Grace Starry River of the Sky, 289 pgs.  Little, Brown and Company, 2012.  $17.99.  Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content:  G; Violence:  G.

Rendi is a young run-away boy somewhere in ancient China.  He is taken in as a chore boy in a village inn, where he seems to be the only one who notices the moon is missing.  As Rendi gets to know the interesting inhabitants of the town, he comes to learn of their struggles and problems, learning to care about others.  Throughout the story, Chinese-style myths are told which mysteriously come to bear on Rendi’s life.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.  There was good character development and I loved coming to each fable.  I wanted to go out and research Chinese myths to see how closely the ones in the book related to actual Chinese fables.  Also this book is visually beautiful, with full color pictures.

EL – ADVISABLE; MS, HS – OPTIONAL.  Reviewer:  S. Weston.