Book Review: Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin

Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin
Publisher: Little, Brown
Publication date: October 2012
Pages: 304
Source: ARC from publisher
For: Review
Series: Companion to Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

Rendi has run far from his home, to the remote Village of Clear Sky. Every night, he hears the sky wailing for the moon, which has gone missing. When a mysterious woman comes to the village, her stories will help Rendi more than he realizes - they might even help him figure out where the moon went.

Things I Liked:
This is a quiet book, an unassuming book.  I love the simple stories of simple people.  I love the stories within a story (those always intrigue me) and I love how neatly folk tales are woven into the fabric of the people's livesrev.  The book has a lot of little lessons that can be learned, but it's also entertaining and beautifully written.  It's not as flashy as some MG books are, but I like it better for that.  And I can't wait to see the full color illustrations (the ARC has some B/W ones, but most are not there at all), because even these unfinished sketches were absolutely astounding.  I think this would make a fabulous read-aloud for younger grades.

Things I Didn't Like:
As I mentioned, not an exciting action-packed book.  A soft, slow, sweet story that will make you think.  The message is a bit obvious, but it isn't so bad that kids will be turned off.

Read-alikes:
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: none

mrg-factor: none

v-factor: none

Overall rating: ****

What's your favorite folk lore tale?

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