Along the River: A Chinese Cinderella Novel - Softcover

Mah, Adeline Yen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 038573896X ISBN 13: 9780385738965

Publisher: Random House Children's Books, 2012

Synopsis

Bestselling Chinese American author Adeline Yen Mah weaves her authentic accounts of life in China into an absorbing novel about a Chinese girl and her vision of a previous life.
 
After a fall, CC is whisked away to a hospital. As she drifts in and out of consciousness, she is haunted by vivid dreams that seem strange—yet somehow familiar. Thus begins CC’s emotional journey back to a privileged life lived eight hundred years ago during the Song dynasty.

CC is the daughter of a wealthy and influential man, but she finds herself drawn to a poor orphan boy with a startling ability to capture the beauty of the natural world. As the relationship between these two young people deepens, the transforming power of art and romantic love comes into conflict with the immovable rules of Chinese society.

This stunning fantasy adventure novel, inspired by China’s most famous painting, Along the River at the Qing Ming Festival, tells the story of a friendship both tender and bold. CC’s remarkable journey reminds readers that though time moves on, art and love endure.

About this title

About the Author

Adeline Yen Mah was born in Tianjin, China, and trained to be a doctor in London. She had a distinguished career in medicine in the United States for many years. Her memoir for adults, Falling Leaves, was a worldwide bestseller and was translated into eighteen languages. Chinese Cinderella is her memoir for young adults. She divides her time between Los Angeles, London, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. Visit her Web site at www.adelineyenmah.com.

From School Library Journal

Gr 5-8–During World War II, 12-year-old CC is helping her grandmother rescue downed American pilots from behind enemy lines when she falls and ends up in a monthlong coma. Hypnotherapy provides a superfluous frame for the main story. She learns that in 1091, she is 13-year-old Mei Lan, who, along with her older brother, forms a close friendship with Ah Zhao, an orphaned slave possessing considerable artistic talent. As they grow up, the three friends explore the truth behind beauty and art, the prisons formed by societal expectations, and the lasting memories of one perfect day. In the story of their friendship, Mah provides a possible explanation for the provenance of several Song Dynasty paintings, reproductions of which appear in a full-color insert. Throughout the book, the story and characters are often lost in excessive historical detail and background. Further, explanations of culture and language are frequently and clumsily inserted into the dialogue. Despite this attention to historical detail, the characters are extremely modern, creating a confusing disconnect.–Jennifer Rothschild, Prince George's County Memorial Library System, Oxon Hill, MDα(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House Children's Books
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 038573896X
• ISBN 13: 9780385738965
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 216