Gabrielle Wang

The emperor challenges all of the animals to race in order to have a year named after them. This story explains how the animals were chosen for the Chinese zodiac and why cats hate rats.

This is one of my favorite folktales. I love the variety of personalities of the animals and their different approaches to the challenge of getting across the lake and the competitive aspect of it being a race. Throughout all the story I always feel bad for the cat. But this version was particularly upsetting to me because the author added the back story that the rat and cat were best friends. What a betrayal!… (altro)

This story is inspired by the author's parents and is about 17 year-old Mirabel who lives in Melbourne with her family, and enjoys drawing and dress-making. Set in the 1940s when the world is at war, Mirabel meets and falls in love with a Chinese soldier, J.J. Only after J.J. returns to China to help fight against the Communist take-over, does Mirabel discover she is pregnant. Despite all opposition and the hardships she will face, Mirabel decides to follow J.J. even though she doesn't know where he is based. Unfortunately, upon her arrival Mirabel discovers that China is a large and strange place.

This book is full of history but it dragged in places and I found myself skipping over large sections of it. Knowing that it was based on a true story made it slightly more interesting, but I was still glad to reach the last page.… (altro)