Thursday, October 24, 2019

Shelf Awareness--Song of the Crimson Flower

YA Review: Song of the Crimson Flower

Song of the Crimson Flower by Julie C. Dao (Philomel, 288p., ages 12-up, 9781524738358, November 5, 2019)

When romantic Tam plays his bamboo flute beneath her window, Lan feels "like a princess in the ancient ballads her father love[s]." But rather than falling for someone "far beneath" her like the girls in "those tales," Tam is "of a family equal to Lan's" and their match is "as close to their approving parents' hearts" as it is to her own. If only Tam would get over the shyness that brings him courting her solely "in moonlit visits," her life would be perfect.

Bao, "an orphan of no family," strives through "hard work and relentless study" to earn his place as apprentice to Tam's father, Master Huynh. The retired court physician is kind, but Tam and his mother treat Bao like "a stray dog." Bao perseveres by dreaming of the person he cares for most, though she doesn't yet "know of his love." Although he has "no hope of winning her," he vows that the time has finally come for him to tell Lan his truth.

Bao confesses his deep feelings to Lan, explaining that he is actually the flute player and Tam wants no part of the arranged marriage; humiliated, Lan cruelly rejects the young "peasant" as unworthy. Deeply hurt, Bao flees downriver in his boat, hoping to find a legendary river witch who could "clear his mind" of Lan. When he finds the witch, she recognizes him and angrily claims to be his aunt. Betrayed by her sister and eager to get revenge, she reveals to him that his mother is alive in the distant Gray City. She then binds Bao to his flute with a curse that will be broken only if the person he loves declares she loves him in return before the next full moon. The witch sends Bao back "from whence [he] came," and he finds himself on Lan's riverbank again. A now "desperately sorry" Lan insists on accompanying him to find his mother, who will surely be the one to break the curse. Bao and Lan race to the Gray City, determined to arrive before the spell becomes permanent and Bao loses his body forever.

Julie C. Dao weaves her Vietnamese-inspired folklore and imagery into a fresh, captivating fantasy that is a companion to her Forest of a Thousand Lanterns duology. Her heroes wrestle with family, class and uncontrolled power while finding ways to muster the strength it takes to do the right thing. At its heart, Song of the Crimson Flower is a magical love story. Bao hopes to prove worthy of "the girl he love[s]" and Lan longs somehow to redeem herself in the eyes of the real"handsome young man who wove his love for her into the melody of a flute beneath the moon." --Lynn Becker, blogger and host of Book Talk, a monthly online discussion of children's books for SCBWI.

Shelf Talker: Julie C. Dao crafts an enchanting stand-alone Vietnamese-inspired fantasy that is a companion to her two other YA books set in the same world.

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