Where The Mountain Meets The Moon

There are several instances of magic in Minli’s journey to Never-Ending Mountain, including talking fish, seeds that rain down from the sky, and a peach tree that grows with the tap of a magic stick. Is Minli’s journey possible without a belief in magic? What would it look like without it?

Every hero’s journey has at least one big test where the hero must use her accumulated experience to win either an external or internal battle. What is Minli's test, and does she pass or fail?

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is Minli’s story, but it's also Ma’s. Evaluate and analyze Ma’s journey as the hero of her own journey. Who are her allies, and what is her biggest ordeal? Does she pass the hero's test?

Minli is one of the only characters with a traditional name (her mother is Ma, her father is Ba, the dragon is Dragon, etc.). Why do you think the author chose to name Minli a name that means “quick thinking?” Is this an apt description of Minli at the beginning of the novel, and is it apt at the end?

Minli faces many intermediate foes on her journey, but what would you define as the main antagonizing force in her life? How does she conquer it, and how is she or her life different because of it?

Nature is almost its own character in Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, as it acts with and against the protagonist every step of the way. Analyze the role of nature in the narrative, paying attention to when it hurts, and when it helps, the hero on her quest.

The use of the language of food to describe non-food imagery is abundant in Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. Select 3-5 particular instances of this, evaluate their effect, and reflect on why the author chose to reference food so frequently throughout the narrative.

Select three of the many stories told within the greater story of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and focus on their separate, specific effects on Minli as a character and, as a result, on the plot. How does the information Minli gets from these stories directly or indirectly influence her decisions and beliefs?