I was especially impressed to learn that Lin illustrated the book herself. The edition is lovely, with charming illustrations, soft paper, delicate fonts, and jewel-tone ink. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is a book full of surprises. In Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, American author Grace Lin spins an enchanting tale about Minli and how she sets out to find the Old Man of the Moon and ask him how she can change her family’s poor fortune. Usually, Ba ends Minli’s flow of queries by telling her, “That is a question you will have to ask the Old Man of the Moon” (9). Ma scoffs at Ba’s stories as a waste of time, but Minli loves to hear them and listens in rapt attention, barraging Ba with questions when each tale ends. Their life is humble and hard, and they spend their days working in the rice fields and their nights eating meager meals and listening to Ba’s stories. Minli lives on Fruitless Mountain with her Ba and Ma. Illustration by Grace Lin of Fruitless Mountain The small children’s novel turned out to be as good as its cover. Generally, this saying is quite accurate, but then my sister selected a book from a library shelf several weeks ago and showed it to me with the words “Isn’t this a pretty book?” Taking the novel in my hand, I read the title Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, flipped through the colorful pages for a moment, and decided to give it a try. “Don’t judge a book by its cover” is a common mantra in my family, including anything from literal books to gifts that come in boxes with misleading labels.

Where the mountain meets the moon cover