Book Review: ‘The Gate, The Girl, and The Dragon’ by Grace Lin
Grace Lin uses Chinese folklore as the basis for a wonderful children’s story about duty, responsibility, and fate that young readers will love. The Gate, The Girl, and The Dragon tells the story of Jin, a stone lion who resents his duty to humanity. Then he gets stuck in the human world. As he tries to find a way back home, Jin comes to have a better understanding of humans. Perhaps protecting them isn’t as useless as he thought?
[Note: While I am reviewing this novel independently and honestly, it should be noted that it has been provided to me by Little, Brown and Company for the purpose of this review. Warning: My review of The Gate, The Girl, and The Dragon contains some spoilers!]
Jin is hundreds of years old, but still a child at heart
Jin has been a stone guardian for a long time. All his friends are stone guardians, his parents are stone guardians. And they all love being guardians. They happily travel through the gate to the human world every day to watch over people. Jin doesn’t feel this way. He finds humans boring and watching over them tedious.
The only thing he wants to do is play zuqiu and score a goal. But when his chance to finally do that gets messed up, Jin is angry. More than angry. He has a melt-down and accidentally knocks the Sacred Sphere (the only thing that holds all creation together) off its base. The Sacred Sphere rolls away and right through the gate to the human world! Jin chases after it, but it’s nowhere to be found. Worse, Jin can’t get back through the gate! He’s stuck in the human world!
Jin is scared and alone. But then he finds someone to help him, a young girl named Lulu, who is also all alone. They can both hear the same mysterious voice calling to them. The voice promises to help them if they can find the speaker. Before the two can find the mysterious speaker, they come across another interesting character. He claims to be a dragon, but he looks like a simple worm. Jin is skeptical of the supposed dragon, but he’s willing to follow along if it gets him back home. Jin pretends to want to help both Lulu and the worm, but he only really wants to help himself.
Jin thinks that he broke the gate during his tantrum, but there is more going on than he realizes. Ancient forces are stirring up trouble. It is only through cooperation and teamwork that Jin, Lulu, and the dragon can stop those forces. But can Jin work with others, or is he too immature to accept responsibility and fix his mistakes?
The Gate, The Girl, and The Dragon is a charming expansion to Chinese folklore
Grace Lin exposes a whole new generation to Chinese folklore in her fantastic new novel, The Gate, The Girl, and The Dragon. Lin starts with the stone guardians that are everywhere in China. She mixes in the creation story of the Goddess Nuwa and the Sacred Sphere. And of course, no Chinese folktale would be complete without a dragon.
But Lin doesn’t just regurgitate Chinese stories, she adds to them and weaves her own captivating tale. Jin, Lulu, and the worm all fit into different folklore tropes. Jin is the selfish hero in need of redemption. Lulu is the moral light that always tries to do what’s right. And the dragon is the voice of wisdom that is ignored until it is almost too late.
These are all classic characters, but Lin makes them engaging and fun. As an adult, Jin is a bit aggravating. He is so selfish and self-centered. His lack of empathy is annoying.
But that makes his eventual growth all the more satisfying. And I think that children will empathize more with Jin (ironic, since Jin lacks empathy). The immature aspects of Jin might also be things young readers are working on. Seeing Jin grow can inspire them to become more too.
Beautiful artwork fills The Gate, The Girl, and The Dragon
Not only did Grace Lin write The Gate, The Girl, and The Dragon, she also illustrated the story. My advance copy only had black and white renditions of her artwork, but the promotional material included full color copies of some of Lin’s work for the book. The work is somewhat reminiscent of Chinese ink paintings, but it is filled with vibrant colors. The richness of her artwork draws you in.
I enjoyed my uncolored pictures, but I can just imagine how much children will love the full-color illustrations in the final print. The colors and details will draw them further into Jin’s world and bring the story alive for them.
Stories within stories
One thing that Lin does in The Gate, The Girl, and The Dragon is tell stories. Obviously, the whole book is a story, but within the main story of Jin and his friend are many more stories. The characters (especially the worm) love to break off and tell stories to each other. These stories help the characters to make points, but they are also important to the overall story.
Lin doesn’t waste time telling stories just to tell them. The stories always circle back and connect to the main story, even if we don’t see how at the time. This adds extra depth to the story while highlighting Chinese folklore for a new generation of readers.
Grace Lin’s story is perfect for young readers
The Gate, The Girl, and The Dragon is for a younger demographic than I typically review for. Most adults aren’t going to snuggle up with Lin’s story. But the 8-12 young reader population will love Jin and his friends. There’s mystery and danger in just the right amount for young readers.
My rating for this book: 7/10
Lin’s story is engaging and pairs perfectly with her beautiful artwork. The nice thing is that the story is enjoyable enough to read aloud if you’re a family that reads together. This is the perfect summer book to keep your kid reading and avoid the summer slide. The Gate, The Girl, and The Dragon is available now where books are sold.
Also check out: Book Review: The Last Firefox by Lee Newbery
