THE REMARKABLE JOURNEY OF PRINCE JEN

Recounting the adventures of the son of an imaginary Chinese emperor, a master storyteller once again weaves a compelling tale. Prince Jen and his sharp-tongued servant, Mafoo, volunteer to journey to the kingdom of T'ien-ku to discover the secrets of governing from the king of that unusually happy and prosperous land. They set out bearing six gifts, but lose them all along the way; they also encounter a rich array of characters, including an evil bandit, a thief with a rigid code of conduct, a little girl who learns to fly, and an older one with whom Jen falls in love. Stories concerning the gifts are smoothly woven into the adventurous journey, which ends happily in the Prince's own kingdom. There are familiar Alexander types here—the plucky but naive hero; the sarcastic, often wrong-headed sidekick; the girl who's smarter than either—but the characterizations get a fresh twist in a setting depicted with the abundant detail of a carefully woven tapestry, while the reader is hypnotically drawn into the lively story. (Fiction. 10+)