Book #1 of 2020: Mulan's Secret Plan

[thistlechaser]

Disney Before the Story: Mulan's Secret Plan by Tessa Roehl
Traditional or self-published: Traditional
Rating: Loved (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)



Years ago a YA author told me that the only difference between good YA and adult fiction is the length of the story. Again and again, I find that to be the case. This book is intended for 5-8 year old kids, but know what? I completely enjoyed it.

Set before the movie takes place, it tells the story of Mulan finally getting to go to school. (Girls in China didn't attend school in this period.) Unfortunately "school" is just classes with the village matchmaker, so they can learn skills to take care of their husbands...

There was actually a plot element that completely surprised me, which so rarely happens in books.

While this book had two things I didn't like, the author can't be faulted for either:
1) It was way too short! It took me just over an hour to read. (But since it was for such young readers, it makes sense it was short.)
2) I'm getting more and more depressed at reading stories about women being second class citizens. Yeah, for a long time girls couldn't go to school at all, but it's still depressing as hell to read about that. Not at all the book's or the author's fault, it just made me really sad.

Those two issues aside, this was a really good book. The writing was great, the inside illustrations really made the story shine. Recommended for adult or child readers.

Comments

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

That's how I feel when we make displays for African-American history month and you realize that 90% of the children's book that feature lead African-American characters take place before or during the Civil War or Civil Rights movement. :| It is getting better, but it is still unbalanced.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Aw man. I hadn't thought about that, but you're right. I don't think I've seen a book with a African-American main character that wasn't set during the Civil War or Civil Rights time.

Not counting African...Africans. (My mind went African-Africans, haha.) I've read a few books set in Africa or thereabouts, but those don't really count, since all characters were the same.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

Right, but the African experience would be very different from the African-American experience so while the representation is good, it's not representative? If that make sense. Probably the equivalent of someone giving a kid that lives in London a copy of 'Little House on the Prairie' and saying "Wilder's ancestors were from England!"

It is getting better but I still think publishers find it less "problematic" to publish books with people of color fighting for their rights in a historical context then facing the fact that many of them are still fighting for equal treatment. I think it is was 'The Hate U Give' was such a big success since Thomas did a good job of showing modern day problems.