Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is a beautifully written fable for people of all ages, not just those in grades 3-6. I just finished reading this story to my five year old. I think I may have gotten more from it than she did but she was enraptured as we read three chapters every night for the last few weeks. Minli is a girl whose family is very poor. Her mother is embittered about their lack of fortune while her father tries to cheer the family up with fanciful tales. All day the three work in the rice fields and eke out just enough from the harvest to provide one bowl of rice each night. Determined to change their fortune, Minli sets out to find the Old Man of the Moon. Old Man of the Moon holds the book of fortune and can not only tell the future, but also change the future. As Minli journeys to find Never Ending Mountain, the home of Old Man of the Moon, she is joined by a flightless dragon who has lived for years upon years in the forest, hiding and alone. Along the way, Minli meets and hears the fortunes of the very rich and the very poor until she learns an important lesson about herself, her family, and their fortune. While Minli is away, Ma and Ba have to come to terms with Minli's absence. About every other chapter, there is a Chinese fairy tale told by one of the characters (never Minli though). Each one of these stories are interwoven with each other like the tangled strings of Fortune that Old Man of the Moon ties to the figures on the earth. There are many good "teachable moments" in the story from each encounter than Minli has in her journey and enough food for thought that adults who read it will come away satiated. While I loved that it had Asian aspects to it, I hope that it will not deter others from reading it because Minli's adventure is one for any culture.