Should a young girl follow the cultural imperatives of her society and go through with an arranged marriage, or embark upon a dangerous journey in an attempt to escape the situation? That’s the dilemma that confronts Ying, the plucky 11-year-old heroine in this suspenseful novel. Russell offers a thought-provoking glimpse of Chinese society in the 1940s, where children have no rights, but belong body and soul to their father’s family. When Ying’s wealthy, autocratic paternal grandmother informs her visiting granddaughter that she’s to be married immediately, her word is law. Ying protests’she desperately wants to return home to her beloved, ailing maternal grandmother—but her objections are brushed aside. Feeling out of options, Ying decides to flee; in the action-packed but somewhat confusing, surprisingly flat journey that follows, Ying briefly teams up with an orphan, grapples with her conniving aunt, and finds an unexpected ally in her groom-to-be. Although Russell’s characterization of the resourceful, determined Ying is solid, it’s the wealth of cultural detail, the curious facts, and vivid descriptions of a time and place governed by a specific set of underlying assumptions that will keep readers engaged. (glossary) (Fiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1999
ISBN: 1-56397-748-6
Page Count: 133
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1999
PLB 0-688-13166-2 King Midas And The Golden Touch ($16.00; PLB $15.63; Apr.; 32 pp.; 0-688-13165-4; PLB 0-688-13166-2): The familiar tale of King Midas gets the golden touch in the hands of Craft and Craft (Cupid and Psyche, 1996). The author takes her inspiration from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s retelling, capturing the essence of the tale with the use of pithy dialogue and colorful description. Enchanting in their own right, the illustrations summon the Middle Ages as a setting, and incorporate colors so lavish that when they are lost to the uniform gold spurred by King Midas’s touch, the point of the story is further burnished. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-688-13165-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
Lunge-Larsen and Preus debut with this story of a flower that blooms for the first time to commemorate the uncommon courage of a girl who saves her people from illness. The girl, an Ojibwe of the northern woodlands, knows she must journey to the next village to get the healing herb, mash-ki- ki, for her people, who have all fallen ill. After lining her moccasins with rabbit fur, she braves a raging snowstorm and crosses a dark frozen lake to reach the village. Then, rather than wait for morning, she sets out for home while the villagers sleep. When she loses her moccasins in the deep snow, her bare feet are cut by icy shards, and bleed with every step until she reaches her home. The next spring beautiful lady slippers bloom from the place where her moccasins were lost, and from every spot her injured feet touched. Drawing on Ojibwe sources, the authors of this fluid retelling have peppered the tale with native words and have used traditional elements, e.g., giving voice to the forces of nature. The accompanying watercolors, with flowing lines, jewel tones, and decorative motifs, give stately credence to the story’s iconic aspects. (Picture book/folklore. 4-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-90512-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1999
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