Rating: 5/10 During the French-British invasion of China, orphaned Spring Pearl goes to live in wealthy Master Sung's house. With her background of growing up in a poor family, she is subject to his snobby wife and daughters' disapproval. Spring Pearl must find a way to gain their favor while surviving the invasion.
This was kind of an eye-roller. Spring Pearl acted and spoke beyond her age of 12. I'm not one to underestimate kids, but let's be realistic. Mistress Sung, supposedly this strong and clever woman, would say "Yes, you're right, Spring Pearl. I didn't even think of that." You didn't think of getting your servants into a place safe from the army's shells? Come on! And Master Sung was rather pathetic: "Yes, dear (Mistress Sung), your advice is so helpful, I'm not going to stop you from being horrible to Spring Pearl." I mean, is he the 'master' of his house or not?
It always bugs me when 'children's' books are silly and implausible, just because they're written for kids. I've read others in the Girls of Many Lands series, and the only one I've liked is Neela: Victory Song. It's really exciting and lovable. In Spring Pearl, I also thought the bits of history were sometimes dropped rather clumsily into the narrative.
It was still a pretty good story, about a strong girl who copes with her circumstances and holds her own. I liked Spring Pearl, the protagonist, I just think she didn't act like a twelve-year-old, no matter how tough and self-sufficient she was when living with her parents in the slums.
Bottom line, I won't read it again.
I'm hoping for some 8-10 rating-worthy books now!!
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