On the Shelf

Book Reviews

Let me tell you about a couple of books that have recently joined the collection at the Downieville Library, plus one book that has been on our shelves for quite some time. All three are in our children’s section.

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin: In this 2010 Newbery Honor Book, a young girl named Minli lives in a village at “the corner of where Fruitless Mountain and the Jade River met”. There, she and her parents tried to eke out a subsistence living from the poor soil — which was often just brown mud — mud that coated everything and everyone in the village. But, in the evenings, Minli would listen to the fantastic tales her father told about the Jade Dragon and the Old Man of the Moon — tales which drove her mother to distraction. But, Minli believes the tales her father tells, and, in that belief, sets out one day on a journey to find the Old Man in the Moon and ask him to change her family’s fortune.

Tucked inside this beautifully crafted story of Minli and her quest, we find sixteen shorter stories that help Minli along the way. They include such tales as “The Story of the Fruitless Mountain”, “The Story of the Dragon”, “The Story of the Paper of Happiness”, “The Story of the Buffalo Boy’s Friend”, “The Story of the Village of the Moon Rain”, and “The Story of the Dragon’s Pearl”. Additionally, it is the author who is also the illustrator of this book, contributing both sketches for each chapter heading and full-page color illustrations throughout the book.

The book has been turned into a stage play. And, that play will be performed at the Nevada Theater in April and May. It is this year’s annual drama production of the Community Asian Theater of the Sierras (CATS). I just checked the CATS website (catsweb.org), and found that there are still plentiful seats available for most of the twelve performances.

Grace Lin has written two sequels to this book: Starry River of the Sky and When the Sea Turns to Silver. Both are also available at the Downieville Library.

The above book reminded me of another book featuring a dragon: My Father’s Dragon, by Ruth Stiles Gannett, was also a Newbery Honor Book (1949). In this book, a boy named Elmer Elevator befriends an alley cat who tells him a story about a baby dragon who has been captured and forced to labor for the other animals on Wild Island. This sets Elmer on a quest to find the island and free the dragon. Along the way, as one can glean just from the chapter titles, Elmer meets up with some tigers, a rhinoceros, a lion, a gorilla, and, finally, the dragon.

Like the first book mentioned in this column, this one also has two sequels: Elmer and the Dragon and The Dragons of Blueland. All three books in this trilogy are illustrated by the author’s stepmother, Ruth Chrisman Gannett.

Finally, another book new to the library is Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem, by Amanda Gorman (illustrated by Loren Long). Amanda Gorman first sprang upon the public scene when she was named the first National Youth Laureate in 2017. Then, her prominence grew even more when she delivered her poem, “The Hill We Climb”, at the 2021 inauguration of President Joe Biden. In the book upon which we now focus, Gorman makes the case (in poetry) that anything is possible when our voices join together. In the book, a young girl leads a growing cast of characters on musical journey — leading each one to find their voice through a musical instrument. Together, they find people who need assistance, in a variety of ways, and together they provide that assistance. The poem begins with these lines,

“I can hear change humming

In its loudest, proudest song.

I don’t fear change coming,

And so I sing along.”

The book and the poem carry the message that change is going to happen — regardless of what we do or don’t do. Therefore, instead of just surrendering to the change and fatalistically giving ourselves over to it, we can choose to shape the change to the benefit of people and the world. This is a book of hope and promise — and beautiful music of words and soul.