Monday, December 13, 2010

The Terracotta Girl



Michael, Dexter, Laura, Cathy and Jared were avid readers and enthusiastic participants in discussion as we finished reading The Terracotta Girl A Story of Ancient China. Yung Lu is a young girl, living in the time of the Qin dynasty, who is determined to become a warrior in Chang'an when her father dies from mercury poisoning. She is brave and fearless as she journeys alone to reach her goal. When she encounters Qin Shi Huangdi, First Emperor of China, she tries to convince him not the take the mercury pills that he thinks will extend his life. Our book group members correctly predicted Qin Shi Huangdi's reaction to Yung Lu.
Ran Jie-shu is the artist creating the terracotta warriors who had summoned Yung Lu's father to join his project, and when Yung Lu finds him and asks if she can take her father's place as a warrior, she finds that Ran Jie-shu had a different kind of warrior in mind.
Third grade has spent the Fall studying Ancient China. This created a firm foundation of background knowledge for those reading historical fiction books. Members of this book group made many connections to this knowledge and to other books and film as they read and discussed this book.

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