by: Kay Honeyman
ages: 11+
First sentence: “There one was a girl, a fire horse girl.”
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It’s China in the early 1920s, and while some progress has been made for women — our 17-year-old protagonist Jade Moon never had her feet bound — there is still are a lot of restrictions. Once that Jade Moon struggles with. And there’s an added layer of stress: Jade Moon is a Fire Horse girl — one that was born in the Chinese zodiac year of the horse that matched up with an element of fire. As is often Chinese way, that means she’s labeled as cursed: she’s stubborn, she’s head strong, she’s outspoken. She’s everything the Chinese don’t want in a daughter (at least at that time).

So, when a stranger proclaiming to be a lost uncle’s adopted son shows up, offering her father a trip to the United States, Jade Moon begs to go along. She figures there will be more opportunity for her in the U.S., less restrictions, and more room for her to be who she really is.

Of course things aren’t as rosy as Jade Moon thought they would be; there wouldn’t be a book if there were. While I didn’t find myself entranced by this book, I was interested in all the historical detail Honeyman included. The portrait of Angel Island was less than rosy; there was a immense dislike and distrust of the Chinese during that time period, and officials would do anything they could to keep the Chinese from entering the U. S. Then, there’s the references to both the gangs that ran Chinatown and the brothels the women were kept in. Nothing explicit, but Honeyman did an excellent job making this book feel like the 1920s. As for Jade Moon herself, while I liked her, I found that I couldn’t quite connect with her.

In the end, it was a good book, but not a fabulous one. Which isn’t bad.