Have you watched a kite flying recently? Can you visualize one now, bucking around in the wind, sailing and diving? Now, can you imagine being up there with it, riding the kite? That is what the boy, Haoyou, does in this amazing story set in thirteenth century China. What happens to get Haoyou up there in the clouds? Well, It's a fantastic story of revenge and double dealing, and obedience to one's elders, and it all begins with the terrible sudden death of Haoyou's father. Haoyou's father is a poor seaman, but he has a beautiful wife, and is the envy of many because of her.
It is envy that makes Di Chou, the first mate, send Haoyou's father up into the sky on the wind tester, to test the omens for their next voyage. That is a kind of kite riding too, but Haoyou's father dies of fright. And no sooner after Haoyou's father is out of the house, Di Chou turns up to propose marriage to Haoyou's newly widowed mother.
I loved this book. It has all the life and excitement of ancient China, from the foul-smelling waterfront at Dagu, to the fabulous Jade Circus with the its Chinese acrobats and Mongol horsemen, to the magnificence of the Kublai Khan's summer camp. Highly recommended!
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