A Thousand Beginnings and Endings

 

Bibliography
Oh, E., Chapman, E., Chokshi, R., Wong, A., Lee, L. M., Charaipotra, S., Bodard, A. d., Myers, E. C. 1.,     Saeed, A., Chhibber, P., Ahdieh, R., & Kanakia, R. (2018). A Thousand Beginnings and Endings:15 Retellings of Asian Myths and Legends. Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

ISBN 9780062671158

Plot Summary
Sixteen authors of Asian descent breathe new life into the folklore and mythology of East and South Asia,offering a wide variety of short stories. The collection takes readers on a journey through fantasy worlds, sci-fiadventures, heartfelt contemporary romances, and gripping tales of revenge. Each story gives a fresh,modern twist to traditional legends.

Critical Analysis
The author states from the beginning that her goal was to showcase Asian voices. These short storiesallowed the author to bring the reader into their culture’s folktales, legends, or myths by making it moremodernized. There are fifteen short stories, and the traditions they represent are Chinese, Filipino,Vietnamese, Korean, and South Asian. Each of the authors brings authenticity to the cultural origin,while spinning it to where the modern person can relate to parts of the story.

Each character in the story is struggling with something. Most of the stories involve a deep family bond thatis missing or broken, or a romantic love, and there is a need to sacrifice something in their life to make it better.This goes along with the typical young adult literature. There is the coming-of-age struggle between selfhoodand duty. The voice and pacing of each of the stories show the characters navigating through what has beenthrown at them. 

I love that at the end of each story, the author talked about why they wrote what they did. There was apersonal connection to each other's stories. This book is written in the anthology format, which makes it a great selection for reluctant readers or readers who are busy. Reading all the stories isnot necessary because each story has a beginning and an end, in a quick amount of time. 

I highly recommend taking each story and building the background knowledge. The first two stories ‌I readthrough it without stopping.  Then I would go and look up the original or certain terms that were used.Starting with the third story, I ‌read the author's part first, then researched a little about the culture and story.This built my background knowledge of cultures that I knew little about. For example, in the story,The Counting of Vermillion Beads,Cam looks in the mirror and sees black-enamelled teeth of the officials. I stopped to look more into this.In Asian culture, having black enamelled teeth was a sign of loyalty, which is what she had to prove asshe worked. Little things like this stuck out in several stories, and to make sure I gained a betterunderstanding, I would stop and look it up. Students who do not take the time to do this‌ may have difficultyfully understanding what the author is trying to tell. If a teacher were to assign this, they would need to givea history and visual examples of the time period references, items, foods, and more. 

Then, for those students who like to read manga, they might potentially learn about characters that could bein the story. My 10-year-old is currently reading a Manga series, and one of the characters is a fox demonwho has fox fire. When I read Eyes Like Candlelight to her, she caught on to it before I even finished the story. Then, when I read Kitsune, she was yelling, saying, “I knew it!”

Overall, this was a great read. I loved learning more about Asian cultures and reading the author's points ofview, too. It made it feel more real and made me want to know more. There were times at the end of the stories,like Olivia’s Table, where I wished there were more. So I looked up the author, and the closest book that she has to this storyis Spirit World, which is a comic book. 

Overall, this anthology achieves its goal of amplifying Asian voices and introducing readers to a widevariety of cultural myths. This is a great young adult read for any reader who wants to read about folklorefrom Asian culture or anyone who wants a quick, interesting read.

Review Excerpts
“Contrary to our Disney-fied expectations, not every story has a happy ending — yet another facet to thisfine compilation that enhances its ability to surprise, intrigue, and delight.” — Chicago Tribune 

“This collection fills a gap in modern retellings of fairy tales and myths by presenting non-European myths....Give to fans of Marissa Meyer’s “Lunar Chronicles” or Rick Riordan’s Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard.An excellent first purchase for all libraries.” — School Library Journal (starred review)

“Outstanding...Each story is followed by a missive from its author, sharing inspiration and background oncreative choices and changes. Thoughtfully compiled and written, this compendium is a must-read.”— Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A collection of Asian myths and legends in which beloved stories of spirits, magic, family, love, andheartbreak are combined with elements from modern teens’ lives….With such a variety of emotions andexperiences to explore, nearly any teen can find something to relate to...An incredible anthology that willkeep readers on the edges of their seats, wanting more.”  — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Awards and Recognitions
Freeman Award (Honorable Mention — 2018)
NPR: Books We Love (2018)
Best Fiction for Young Adults (Selection — 2019)
NCSS/CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People (2019)
Penn GSE's Best Books for Young Readers (Selection — Anthologies — 2018)

Connections

• Compare myths and legends that could be alike in different cultures. 

• With the current popularity of the movie K-Pop Demon Hunters, it would be great to see if they

            noticed anything from the stories mentioned or referenced.