Synopses & Reviews
Up and up the wind drew him.
Haoyou looked about him and saw the whole
world beneath him. And it was his. He could
breathe! Today Haoyou was a kite, a
windhover riding on spread wings.
The great Miao master of the Jade Circus, offers twelve-year-old Haoyou the amazing chance to change his life -- to escape from his family's poverty and the pain of his father's recent death -- by becoming a kite rider!
Strapped onto a beautiful scarlet -- and-gold kite, Haoyou is sent into the sky to soar perilously among the clouds and entertain the awestruck crowds below. Traveling the Empire as part of the Jade Circus, Haoyou earns freedom, money, and unexpected fame -- as he skillfully performs for local villagers who believe he can bring back messages from lost loved ones whose spirits haunt the sky. Miao even plans for Haoyou to perform before the Mongol conqueror Kublai Khan himself!
But what about the duties that bind Haoyou to the ground -- his duties to his family, especially to his widowed mother? And is the Great Miao all that he seems, or could he be using Haoyou in a treacherous plot?
From incredibly versatile Carnegie Medalist Geraldine McCaughrean, author of The Stones Are Hatching, comes this dazzling story of adventure, betrayal, family, and sacrifice set in the dramatic, dangerous world of thirteenth-century China.
Review
“A marvelous, soaring story that gives you a glimpse into another world.” The Guardian (London)
Synopsis
International Reading Association Notable Book for a Global Society
About the Author
Geraldine McCaughrean is the winner of England's most prestigious children's book award, the Carnegie Medal, for a pack of lies. She is also the author of many other prize-winning books for young readers, including
The Pirate's Son, Gold Dust, and
Forever X, which was short-listed for the Carnegie Medal. She made her debut on the HarperCollins list with the stones are hatching, which Publishers Weekly called an "evocative and profound fantasy" in a starred review. Her most recent book, the kite rider, was a 2001 Nestle Smarties Book Prize Bronze Medal winner and was chosen for the 2002 Carnegie Medal shortlist.
She received a degree in education at Christ Church College, Canterbury, and now writes full-time. Ms. McCaughrean and her family live in Berkshire, England.