All Four Quarters of the Moon
From the CBCA award-winning author of A Glasshouse of Stars
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Making mooncakes with Ah Ma for the Mid-Autumn Festival was the last day of Peijing’s old life. Now, adapting to their new life in Australia, Peijing thinks everything will turn out okay for her family as long as they have each other - but cracks are starting to appear.
Her little sister, Biju, needs Peijing to be the dependable big sister. Ma Ma is no longer herself; Ah Ma keeps forgetting who she is; and Ba Ba, who used to work seven days a week, is adjusting to being a hands-on dad.
How will Peijing cope with the uncertainties of her own little world while shouldering the burden of everyone else? And if Peijing’s family are the four quarters of the mooncake, where does she fit in?
'An enchanting, touching, perfectly crafted story that will live in my heart for a very long time. A novel of family, friendship, culture, honour and identity that is both timely and timeless. I laughed and cried so many times, and felt as if my soul and my worldview were both expanding. An instant classic.' KATE GORDON, author of CBCA award-winning Aster’s Good, Right Things
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
An 11-year-old moving from Singapore to Australia finds normalcy in sisterhood within Marr's (A Glasshouse of Stars) lyrical, Chinese-folktale-twined novel. Finding "the people and the atmosphere and the trees and the space" wildly different in her new home, and trying to fit in at school, Peijing Guo longs for the assurance of established friendships and celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival with homemade mooncakes, an enduring family custom. Her traditional family is having no easier time adjusting: Ma Ma seldom leaves the house, Ba Ba must take on solo parenting, Ah Ma's failing memory causes concern, and five-year-old Biju depends on her sister now more than ever. Amid these adjustments and others, Peijing and Biju's Little World—a miniature crafted universe of paper animals, natural elements, and a red barn in an instant-noodle box—provides comfort and a physical opportunity for them to rebuild. Gentle, observational prose carries the novel's intentionally paced events, folk tale references, organic character growth, and a heartening message of embracing change and impermanence. Ages 8–12.
