Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

In the book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon the character Minli lives in china where it has a poverty setting. Money is hard to find and Minli is determined to find riches for her mom and dad. She received 2 coins for her birthday and a foreign trader comes selling goldfish around her town. She spends 1 of her coins on one of the goldfishes hoping it will bring luck to the family. When minli’s parents found out she spent her money on a worthless fish they were distressed. They thought it was a waste of money to spend it on something like a fish because they barely make 2 coins.

What minli learns that this is not an ordinary fish…..it’s a magical talking fish. The fish tells a myth of the old man up on the moon who grants people wishes. So minli sets out to find this man, she travels far and wide to find him. She meets new friends like a boy with a buffalo, a king, and a dragon. The dragon is an important character too because even though most dragons can fly he cannot. So he sets out with minli to find the old man to ask him how he can get to fly.

In the end of the story, minli finds the old man but the thing is that he can only answer one question. So minli asks the old man..Why can’t the dragon fly? The old man replies that he should remove the stone that’s stuck on his head. So minli does and she realizes that she doesn’t need money to be happy. The dragon is thankful and carries her home. She takes the stone home as a remembrance. Her parents are glad she’s home and happy. But..Minli realizes the stone wasn’t a stone it was a dragon pearl. The pearl is worth many jewels and riches.

So even though minli didn’t asked her question she got her fortune. The moral is that you don’t need money to be happy. Love from your family is all you need to survive. It seems lucky that even though she helped a friend she got something back in return